Friends

Usually when I type a quote on Across the Way I put it in italics. With the following quote, I won't do that as italics can be more difficult to read and I want to make this as easy to read as possible because it meant a lot to me when I read it. Why? Because it reminded me of you, of me and you, my readers, my friends. It was written by Faith Baldwin:

"I have a friend whose ways are other than mine; 

we have our own likes, dislikes, prejudices and enthusiasms.

I like my steak rare, she prefers hers well done, so each considers the other

in this unimportant respect a barbarian.

I stay up late, she goes to bed early;

I'm crazy about crossword puzzles, she couldn't care less about them.

We differ about some books, plays, television productions, colors and fashion.

Sometimes, of course, we agree.

It's all trivial enough and we recognize our similarity,

one to the other--and to other people.

Differences make each of us himself, but likenesses made us part of a far larger world.

My friend and I have known anxieties, sorrows, and suffering;

we are often insecure and troubled.

We look upon the changing face of nature and may see different aspects of it,

but we share, as we look.

We can laugh or cry together and recognize the essential needs we also share.

So the difference makes us individuals, but the likeness makes us sisters."

Faith Baldwin in Evening Star

As I read this I immediately thought of my blogging friends, both those who also blog and those who don't but who I hear from through comments or email. What Faith Baldwin has written about her friend is also true, I think, or it should be, of those I communicate with in this wonderful electronic friendship. Naturally, it is easy and comfortable to have friends who are similar to me. You are important to me. But it is also important to me to have friends who delight me with your differences. 

It was also Faith Baldwin who wrote, "It is said that we don't make our friends, that we simply recognize them."

Isn't that an exciting sentence! I hope I can keep my eyes open and recognize friends that I meet through Across the Way or through those blogs I visit or through private emails like those I have had from a dear Oklahoma friend. I can't help but believe that there are even readers who I've never met who recognize me as their friend. I send out a warm hello to you. I hope you're doing well and that life is kind to you.

This picture is of a vintage Hallmark card that I found at Goodwill. It is my bookmark in the book quoted from above, Faith Baldwin's Evening Star. I love it and I hope you will too. It is my little gift to you today, my friend.