Friendships

In the course of one's life, one gets to make a number of friends. But it is in the friendships of those who remain true that one gets to feel truly blessed, even if just in knowing that they are there. And as incredible as it may seem, I only found this out just now. Maybe the undiscovered truth was due to the natural refusal to acknowledge the inevitable.

I have only very recently retired from active journalistic work although, as you can see, I have chosen to maintain my column writing. Now, as is usual in the media business, we get to receive a lot of Christmas greetings, in whatever form, from friends. We also get invited to a lot of appreciation activities, again by friends made in the course of our media careers.

Since my retirement, with my name no longer in the staff box, along with the designation that was a magnet for friendship, I honestly no longer expected the seasonal greetings, in their many forms, and the fun invites. Having spent close to 40 years in media and counting, I have learned enough when to hold on to something and when to let go.

Yet, to my surprise, a few Christmas greetings did come for me at my old office building, along with some invites. And what really struck me was that the greetings and invites came from those who, I am absolutely certain, already knew I was retired. To be remembered and acknowledged in this way squeezes the heart and brings a tear to the eye.

Some friendships really do take root and hold, and to these few friends who remained, my deepest thanks and appreciation go to you. As it would not be appropriate to mention you here by name, let me just say I am enumerating you all in my prayers. You know who you are and if perchance God smiles upon you with grace, I hope a small part of that had my heart in it.

I am writing about this on the eve of our celebration for the greatest gift mankind ever received because friendship is also a true gift. Despite the many challenges faced during the year, the discovery that I do have a few true friends from out of the many I thought I had has made this Christmas truly meaningful and blessed for me.

With these few but true friends counted among my blessings, what more could I ask? Someday, as is the way of all things, even some of these few true friends in their time may also fade into forgetfulness and oblivion. But I will not take that against them. For in the moment when it mattered most, when I was in doubt about where I was in retirement, they were there.

It was these friends, and their friendships, that provided reassurance. In journalism's constant search for truth, it appears that some truths can be found not in the stories and pictures we pursue but in the unintended liaisons that somehow just managed to bloom and grow outside the professions that first brought them together. Again, to my friends, thank you. Merry Christmas.