My Recipe for Friendship

In a recent conversation with friends, our discussion centered around the friendships we experience in a lifetime, their value, uniqueness, and their ability to grow with us. 

Last month, my college roommate, Bonnie pictured above, died after a brief illness. I’m grateful to have had time to reconnect and acknowledge our friendship before her passing. After college, she continuously traveled the world occasionally sending me a post card letting me know where in the world she was. We met every few years to reminisce and update each other. 

Today, I reflected on my cache of treasured friends. With some, I connect a few times during the year through Christmas cards, birthdays, and major life events. Some I connect with more often. A small number of long-term friends gather every few years for an extended visit, timeless moments that light up my life. My grandmother had a saying about the value of relationships, something like, ‘they’re jeweled charms on a bracelet.’ I’ve heard people say true friendships are rare. I’m blessed to have many cherished friends, and each one is unique.

Friendships are more important to me than possessions, professions, and politics. My recipe for friendship includes large dollops of honesty and vulnerability, equal parts listening and sharing, generous parts respect, love, and humor, blended and attended to as agreed upon.