Thank God for Friends

Friendship on the Fringe

“The best of friends stay by your side at your worst, pass no judgment on you, and still want to hang out with you the next day.” Unknown

After taxes and the terrible mood that comes from owing money to Uncle Sam, only friendship could save me. Just as I was getting into my car in the parking lot of the tax assessor, my friend, Isie, sent a message saying only, “Want to meet for lunch?” A few hours later, my friend, Andy, rang my door bell and said, “Let's finish raking the front yard and cut down those weeds in the back.” My friend, Anna, called too. I was reminded once again that money is not life; friends and loved ones make life happy. I may be poor in money, but I am rich in friends.

That got me thinking about the pack I run with. We are all a little short of fringe—well, actually, we're on the long side of fringe. We're purple fringe, with flecks of gold. We are what I would call, “non-mainstream;” we don't follow the crowd, or lean into society's norms. We're all independent, concerned, informed, and bohemian in our lifestyle. My friend, Anna, wears blowy clothes and scarves, and speaks only Jungian. And, my globe-trotting friend, Annette, is way at the far end of the fringe. She's more comfortable in a mud hut in the developing world than in suburban Birmingham. She's always making labyrinths for people to walk, and doing art with children who have been through terrible tragedies, in Haiti, in Bosnia, in Africa, and Lord knows where else. And then, there's Ellen, who walks around the streets of this city in shoes that have five toes on them, oblivious to the curious stares she gets. I could go on, but you get the picture. We're fringe, all right. And we wouldn't have it any other way.

Do you ever look at your friends and wonder what they say about you? The pack we run with reflects who we are like nothing else. My tribe is always there when I need them—even there when I don't need them. Either way, and however fruity and nutty, I couldn't do life without them. Today is a good day to give your friends a call and tell them how much they mean to you...fringe and all.

                                              In the Spirit,

                                                   Jane