What Makes Someone A Friend?

I am acquainted with a lot of people.  And I count many of them as friends.  People I would go to lunch with, or a movie, on an excursion, or otherwise spend some quality time with.  But, like many of us, I have a small inner circle of friends who I know I can count on for anything. People I can and do confide in. 

As it turns out, my inner circle at the present, happens to be made up of women.  It wasn’t always the case.  I have been privileged over my lifetime to have some extraordinary friends who just happened to be men.  Men with no other agenda but to be my friend.  It is a refreshing experience and one that has given me some great insights.  But that is a story for another time.

As I ponder just what makes someone become a friend, I think of my own tribe.  We are a diverse group.  Not all are Christian but those who are have varying degrees of understanding as to what that means.  Even the ones of us that attend the same church have differing views on specifics.

Many of the group, but not all, have had some sort of breast surgery.  And many have had to deal with the long-lasting ravages of cancer.  But not all.  

Some of us have advanced higher degrees.  Some only finished high school and had no other educational goals beyond that.  But that is not where our value lies.

Most in the group have dealt with great loss:  a parent, a spouse, a child, a child that never was.  We know we simply must go on.

We are all animal lovers and heartily believe that anyone who mistreats animals or children is the scum of the earth.

For some of us, friendship came to the table late.  It had to mature and test the waters, gradually growing into something substantial.  For some, it was immediate and never changed.      

Many of us are grandmothers now.  And a lucky few have been blessed with great-grandchildren.  Some are still waiting for that miracle to touch their lives.  For some, we know, it will never happen.

We have all been through a lot in our individual lives and we have not let it stop us.  We have faced down the mighty foes of loneliness, depression, cancer and other illnesses, loss, even death.  We have won. If we are unstoppable as individuals, we are unmovable as a group!  

This may very well be the thing that binds us together.  Not our differences.  Not even the things we have in common.  But the fact that we, individually, know our worth, and recognize our own truths.  We know our capabilities and where our worth lies.  We have confidence in our abilities.  We are brave.  We draw upon our inner strength and face the thing we think we cannot face.  We may be scared but we do it!

There is magic running through our veins, and we recognize that spark in each other.  We rise above.  We conquer. We are survivors.  We know things. We are goddesses.  We. Are. Goddesses.