Today my husband and I are attending a wedding in Surrey. We are very excited about it and have been looking forward to it for ages. The bride is the daughter of good friends who live in Northern Ireland. It is rather a poignant occasion as she was extremely ill when she was in her teens and early twenties and at one stage she was not expected to survive. It is also a very happy event for us as we will meet up with quite a few of our friends whom we haven’t seen for years.
When we were living in N.I. we were part of a group of 24 very close friends. Some of the friendships have lasted over 60 years. I’m a relative newcomer as I’ve only been in the group for 41 years. We have shared many happy times, some very sad times and some worrying times. We have supported each other through many trials and celebrated at other times. Even though we haven’t been in physical contact for quite a while I keep in contact by phone.
I read a poem by Helen Steiner Rice entitled “The Golden Chain of Friendship” which sums up pretty well what friendship means. These are the first few lines of it:
“Friendship is a golden chain,
The links are friends so dear,
And like a rare and precious jewel
It’s treasured more each year.”
Dear Lord, thank you for good friends and even though we are apart our hearts are bound together as the years pass by. Help us to support and show your love to new friends.