Hanging Out on the Roof

Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.
~ Anonymous~

A friend hears the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.
~ Anonymous~

"A good friend is my nearest relation."
~Thomas Fuller (1732)~

"We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over; so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over."
~ Samuel Johnson~

I love to go out a sit on my roof. Sounds silly I guess, but it is always a lot warmer sitting on the roof rather than on the deck. I go out on my deck and climb over the railing. It is nice because the roof almost meets with the railing where it ends, so climbing over it has never been a problem for a short person like me. I remember growing up how I would have to sneak and do it because whenever my mom would find me up there I would not hear the end of it. Even now I like to go out there when no one knows I am out there. It is another spot of mine I like to use to think and reflect.

While on the roof today I was thinking a lot about my friends, and how much I love them. I thought about how funny it is that we end up choosing the friends we do. We all go around looking for relationships. Bonds. Something familiar in some way. Sure, we like to act like we can do it on our own, but really deep down we all have a need for companionship... So when we meet another person for the first time we ask the same types of questions, those that barely scratch the surface, but just enough to figure out if we have something in common. Something that will help us know if it is worth it enough to eventually let our guard down even more and know it is safe to do...

Most of the time that connection has to do with faith for me, not to say that I do not have friends are are not Catholic, because I do, I have lots, but I have a much closer relationship with those that do share my faith. There is something about going to church together and adoration together and having those relationships centered on God. I feel so much more at home with those people. I know without a doubt that if I need to have something prayed for these friends will tell me that they will pray about it and I know they will and vice versa.

As I sat on the roof I thought about some memories with friends I had not thought about it a long time. Some good times which brought a smile to my face. I am even more blessed to know that the good friends I had growing up as a kid I still keep in contact with. It is funny to me how your friends really do become like your family. I cannot tell you when that moment happens because it is kind of a gradual thing. You start out as acquaintances and somewhere along the line of sharing laughs and tears, triumphs and letdowns, secrets and inside jokes they are no longer friends. Sometimes that bond is stronger for a friend than your own extended family...Granted with every relationship there are up's and downs, but at the end of the day I still know they have my back, and I make sure to remind them I will always have theirs. That is what friends are for afterall!!!