Hello Friend!

“We have three types of Friends in Life:

Friends for a Reason, Friends for a Season and Friends for a Lifetime.”

This is a post from a friend’s wall on FB. She wrote it in January and the blog post has been in the making, since.  2013, for valentine day, I chose to share my take on what is love and concluded it's logically illogical and a choice we all make.  

Valentine day 2014, lets talk about you, my friend.    

The quote above is a very profound statement that is open to interpretation.

Here’s mine.

Friends for a reason; making friends for a reason? At the first take this  sounds very selfish, but then it’s not always like that. Definitely not in my Utopian world. Friends for a reason come into our lives to fulfill a gap, a need or a wish that we have. That friend could be your child’s teacher who walks you through the ups and downs of school years, it could be a nurse who holds your hand as you sit next to your loved one in the hospital or it could be a fellow co-worker who understands that a new job can be daunting so instead of being the smart one, they choose to listen and guide you to success. That’s the friend for a reason. 

They are nature’s way of making things happen and keeping the circle of giving going.  Your friend for a reason was literally put at the right place and at the right time by life, so you could take the next step forward.

If this friend vanishes as suddenly as he or she appeared, then don’t be sad. Some relationships are meant to last for only so long because the reason for their existence is over and its time for that friend of a reason to find another and continue to exist.

If this friend continues to become a friend for a season, then you are lucky. Friends for a season are rare :) 

The friend for a season is often unseen and untouched until it’s the right time.  

When they are really needed, they magically appear like the cluster of lilies blooming from the cold frosty ground announcing the arrival of spring. 

This friendship has a sixth sense of its own. When the world sees a smile, this friend will see the forced smile. These friends will always be there for you and yet they come and go. These are the friends you won’t talk to for years and yet when you do, the years of absence seems irrelevant.

Friends for a life-time; is your family. Yes, a true and honest familial relationship over time crosses the bridge of relationships to step into the informal playground of friendship.  These friendships give us an environment to thrive. They accept all the tantrums as much as the person and either by the stern look of a father, the cuddle of a mother, the kiss from a husband or the hug from a child this life-time friend nurtures you from the inside out. 

Today as the world changes, so do these antiquated beliefs. Friendships today are not limited to in person, they are virtual too. No longer do we need a coffee shop or the bench of a park, today you can meet your friend in a virtual space called the Facebook wall, and then its Me, My Wall and You.

Momma always said, “Birds of a feather flock together, so choose your friends wisely.”  I would then wonder, who is a good friend? 

Today, a friend is “someone I can be silent with.”

A Woman Of Substance!

I am not sure why, but this holiday season she keeps coming to my mind. She was like the wind; not the harsh wind that blew things away. But the gentle one that knew how to slide under the wings and give everyone it touched a gentle lift, just enough to get them going again.  She was and is Jayne!

Always smiling, in the six odd years that I knew her, not once did I NOT see her smile. She smiled through it all; her chemotherapies, the x-rays, the lab tests, the doctor appointments, the last days when she knew she was fading away and yet her attitude of looking at the abundance of good never left her.  

I met her for the first time at the kindergarden introductory meetings. Her enthusiasm was infectious. It was almost viral. She taught me how to volunteer, how to look at the positive and not freak out at my son when he came with a B- or a C+ grade. I remember even today, we were sitting outside the first grade classroom, and she was picking on sweet peppers like they were candy and it was just two moms yakking away when I mentioned, wish my kid could read as fast as his friends. She looked at me straight in the eye and said, "do you know your kid is the only one who raises his hand and says, he did not understand?"  I am thinking that's bad, right..she says, why, he is only 6 he has his whole life to learn to read so fast that no one can understand what he is saying, but he has only a few years to ask questions, soon he'll be a man and expected to know it all.  I was zapped, what she told me was so true and yes, I did back off and surprisingly, the more I calmed down, the faster my kid learnt.  Even today, she keeps me in check. 

She moved on to the heavens four months ago to stupid cancer. I hate cancer. The void continues to be there. She touched every life with her amazing love of life. She was a fighter, a believer and above all a friend. I feel blessed to have known her.  

She was a daughter, a wife, a mother, a friend and above all, she IS a woman of substance! 

Sunset evolves into a peacock. 

When I started this painting, I was wanting to make a sunset, I don't know when and why the brushes started moving towards blues and greens. And before I knew it a peacock was taking shape. After the first coat, as I was putting it away to dry a little, I got an FB update from Jayne's page, stating she loved peacocks and wanted to be remembered by them. At that point, I knew this painting was for her.  She loved the vibrant colors and pride of the bird. Jayne personified peacocks.

Jayne's peacock

I feel blessed that I was able to make this for her and give it to her too.

I know you're smiling down on us this holiday season. The heaven's are never going to be the same. They are going to party like never before.  We all love you and miss you!