Friends, Big and Small

What's better than getting together with friends? Wherever we are in life, whether we are just beginning...

...or have already been here for a while, friends are priceless. To all of our old friends, new friends, and all of the ones in between, thank you for being our friends.

This reminds me of one of my most favorite childhood books of all time, "A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You," by Joan Walsh Anglund. It is about how we have friends everywhere - but it is told in the most simple and sweet way. (Text below...)

A Friend is Someone Who Likes You
A friend is someone who likes you.
It can be a boy…
It can be a girl…
Or a cat…
Or a dog…
Or even a white mouse.

A tree can be a different kind of friend.It doesn’t talk to you, but you know it likes you,Because it gives you apples… or pears… or cherries..Or, sometimes, a place to swing.

A brook can be a friend in a special way.It talks to you with splashy gurgles.It cools your toes and lets you sit quietly beside it when you don’t feel like speaking.

The wind can be a friend too. It sings soft songs to you at night when you are sleepy and feeling lonely. Sometimes it calls you to play. It pushes you from behind as you walk and makes the leaves dance for you. It is always with you, wherever you go, and that’s how you know it likes you.

Sometimes you don’t know who are your friends. Sometimes they are there all the time, but you walk right past the and don’t notice that they like you in a special way.

And then you think you don’t have any friends.

Then you must stop hurrying and rushing so fast…

And move very slowly, and look around very carefully, to see someone who smiles at you in a special way…Or a dog that wags its tail extra hard whenever you are near…Or a tree that lets you climb it easily…Or a brook that lets you be quiet when you want to be quiet. Sometimes you have to find your friend.

Some people have lots and lots of friends…

And some people have quite a few friends…

But everyone…Everyone in the whole world has at least one friend.
Where did you find yours?
We like our friends and are glad you like us. We are grateful for our friends!