Why are we friends? We’re so different!
You come from another state, another country, another culture.
You’re older than me; you’re younger.
You’re religious, and you—you’re political.
You’ve made choices in your life that I can’t fathom. You’ve had things happen to you that I can’t relate to. You’ve done things I couldn’t or wouldn’t or wish I dared to do.
You don’t have any children. You have too many. You don’t want any. You’ve got a baby; your kids are grown.
You believe in things I could never swallow. You believe in things that go against my grain. You don’t believe in things I believe in.
Why, sometimes I suspect we don’t even speak the same language!
You celebrate completely different traditions. Your childhood was so different. You’ve never lived anywhere else in your life. You’ve lived in places I’ve never been. You never finished high school. You didn’t go to college. You went to medical school/law school/vocational school. You got a masters, a PhD.
You have a job I could never do, a job I wouldn’t want to do, a job I would love to have. You’ve always known what you wanted to be.
Your parents were separated, divorced, maybe they weren’t around at all. YOU are separated, divorced, re-married. You’re an only child. Or one of 11 kids. You’re gay, bisexual, asexual. A punk rocker, a line dancer, a headbanger. An activist. A hermit. A comic. A homemaker. An insomniac. A hypochondriac.
Heck, I might not even have met you!
We’re so different! Why are we friends?
What do you see in me? Do you see the same thing I see in you?
Someone who shares. Someone who writes. Someone who creates. Someone who photographs or paints or videos. Someone who teaches, someone who reads; you’re someone who listens.
Someone who reaches out in some way and gives something of yourself.
Someone who offers a new perspective, a change of scenery, a fresh outlook on life and living that I might never have thought of, could never have known of except through your words and your experiences.
You’re a book I’m reading. You’re a movie I’m watching. You’re a friend I’m making. You’re a friend I’m keeping.
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Warm & Snuggly, Baby Cuddly Birthday Wishes to americantjej!
*Title from a quote by Francis David