Last night I went to the viewing of a dear and old friend. He died suddenly after a hip replacement, a blood clot caused a stroke they felt. Duane Ridd and his wife Janet have been dear friends since I was first married in 1956. He was our banker at the time of my divorce and talked me through my fiances. He and Janet helped me move into the condo after my divorce. As you know, you really find out who your real friends are after a divorce......many just disappeared. It is hard to mingle in that old group any more when so many old friends treat you like you are invisible, but after 24 years I have tried to forgive them and just remember our 30 years of good times. I was inspired by the following little story:
Two friends were walking along a beach. One friend slapped the other one. His friend stopped and wrote in the sand. "Today my best friend slapped me in the face." Further on down the beach, he got stuck in mud and this time the friend pulled him out and saved him. On down the beach he stopped and carved on a stone. "Today my best friend saved my life." Later his friend ask him, "When I slapped you, you wrote in the sand, when I saved you, you carved it in the stone. Why the difference?"
The friend replied, "when someone hurts you, you should write it in the sand, where the winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for you, you must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it." I think that is such a wonderful thought, and will try and always do it. All that hurt is behind me , written in the sand. The good memories are carved in the stone of my mind!
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