“Friends can make you feel that the world is smaller and less sneaky than it really is, because you know people who have similar experiences.”
― Lemony Snicket, The Austere Academy
Today I began listening to a book I’ve been meaning to read for about ten years. I found it as a recorded book so I thought it was a great opportunity to finally hear this story. The book is, The Girls From Ames, by Jeffrey Zaslow.
I have to admit, the only reason I was originally drawn to it because I figured it had to be about girls from Ames.
For once, I was right. It is about girls from Ames but it’s about a lot more. At least it has been for me.
The book chronicles the lives of eleven women over the course of their forty year friendship. The stories shared are hauntingly familiar to those of my own younger days. I’ve had to go back and repeat parts of the book because my mind gets triggered by one story or another, putting my ears on hold as it pulls up one of my own long lost childhood memory. My emotions have been all over the place. One minute I’m laughing, the next minute I’m in tears.
The main thing I’m feeling this afternoon is gratitude for the people in my life I call friends.
Heavenly Father,
I am thankful for the gift of friendship. You have positioned souls along my path who have added brilliance, depth, and texture to the tapestry of my life. You have blessed me in ways I am just beginning to understand. Each person, in their own individual way, has helped me believe and trust in your goodness. Each day my awareness grows. Please, God, help each person see how valuable they are to me. I ask you to keep them safe as you surround them with peace and love. Amen.
~Barbara Jo Burton Hibdon, November 7, 2019
I am…
B…simply being.
~Peace~
Thank you, Judith Weitzel Wilmink, for this great picture I’m using as part of my story today. God bless you. I Love you.
B...simply being... 