* It has rained on me every day this week. In August? It hasn't rained hard, or a soaking rain, but it has gotten the windshield wet at least every day this week. Strange for this time of the year.
* Pray for W-mom. We all will be headed to Harris Downtown Ft Worth for her surgery in the morning at 11 am. I will keep you posted either in a group text, via the ATC blog or Facebook on her status.
* I have written about friendships on here before. This time I feel the need to approach it in a different way. Maybe approach isn't the right word. I just feel like talking about it. I have lots of friends. Some that I have known for a long time, nearly all my life, Church friends, lake friends, relatives that I consider friends, friends that I have recently gotten to know and of course....my group text friends. Within this core of friends there are many different types of personalities. I have friends that need to just vent from time to time. Friends that like to "one-up" everyone. Friends that are somewhat "self-absorbed". Friends that are "promise-breakers". Friends that I can tell anything, and it will never leave their lips. Friends that are needy, and friends that continually give to me and others unconditionally. Friends that need prayer, and friends that pray for me all the time. Friends that I like to hang out with and others that if we are together for more than an hour that we will be disagreeing about something. Friends that are NASCAR fanatics and somewhat "Redneck", and friends that are somewhat "Yuppy" and tend to live in McMansions on the hill.
I find it interesting that I can have a relationship with so many different types of personalities. Am I bragging here? No, just thinking out loud. Before I go further let me say that some of these friends are also women, their not just all guys. I have some very good female friends that I can spill my deepest thoughts with and they don't look down at the fact that I'm a guy, spilling his guts. Shut it Jarhead! I have some male friends that I can discuss topics with that I would feel not feel appropriate telling my women friends. My point here is that I have friends of both genders, that share these traits. I have one friend in particular that I hear from about once a month, and most of the time when they call it's to vent about things that have gotten built up in their life and they just need to unload on someone. Usually at the end of our conversation they say "thanks, I just needed to vent". I have an older friend that I hear from now and again that will start out our conversations catching up on the past few weeks and then lead into the "hey if you got time, will you stop by here one day, I need you to look at.....?" Another friend of mine never fails to answer the phone if I've had a bad day, and another never answers and rarely returns a call after leaving a message with them. I have friends that hate each other. I've friends that hate each other and have never even met each other. I have friends that in the beginning I thought I wouldn't like, but now call them best friends. I work with a guy that over the past five years I have gotten to know him and his family, and now we even feel like part of each others families. He is the type that if you need something, he is there, no questions asked. He has never once "expected anything" in return for something he has done for me. I continually strive to (in my mind) repay him for all the ways he helps me in my job.
As I have stated here before, I am involved in a group text for well over a year now. It started with 5, grew to 7 and now is back to 6. Strange as it may seem to some, up until a few weeks ago, some of us had never laid eyes on each other, yet we call ourselves friends. During our many text conversations, on any given day, you might hear about someones children, someones sickness, someones struggle with school, their problems at home either with a spouse or ex-spouse, the traffic they are diving in. You feel like you are part of a family. Our group has become very close friends. Friends that range in age from barely legal drinking age, to....well I suppose I'm the oldest at 50. We have single parents, struggling parents, grand parents. We have personalities that reach from shy and inhibited to wild and uninhibited. College educated, and redneck (that being me). We have humor that stretches from mild to really wild. Hardly a day goes by that you won't catch me laughing hysterically at something that scrolled across my screen.
One of my best friends is my wife. In seven years I have discovered a personality that defies explanation. I don't mean that in a bad way either. I know of very few people that we have came across that she can't stop and chat with and find a common interest. She continually surprises me with her charm. She makes friends with old and young alike, and most times speaks to them in such a calming manner that they fall in love with her. My wife has a sense of humor that will keep you on your toes, whether at church or at a group gathering. We have our moments, just like anyone else and life isn't and never will be perfect, especially with a blended family of 5 kids and two grand kids, but she is always a good friend and confidant. She never fails to support me and continually thanks me for what I do for her and our family.
I like being friends with all these different people and personalities. It's fun and interesting. I am continually filled with blessings from my friends each and every day. I pray today for each of my friends, that they will be as blessed to know me as I am them.
17 comments:
You got that Hate correct, you can't scrub Dousche out
You sound like a nice guy I could be friends with. Now, if you just had a sailboat...........
I know your Momma and she taught you well
Quit deleting the damn comments. If I didn't want them there, I wouldn't approve them
you are indeed very blessed.
it is wonderful to have friends to help lift up and support.
HarveyLee, I've only sailed with a few people in my life. One already comments here as Ratherbesailing, another has never typed a word before ever in his life, most especially on the Internet. The last one was quite possibly one of the best friends I ever had. Is the last one you?
You know what? You're incredibly self-effacing. I admire that about you....you're so honest and courageously subject yourself to those who are envious of that which you speak (i.e., those you cry "braggart" when you detail your daily life...). People who find fault with you want to from the get-go, you know....pfft. So boring.
Diversity is the spice of life....if we were only friends with those exactly like ourselves, [snoozle]. I mean, you can sit alone in front of the mirror talking to yourself all day long, but.....again, [snoozle]
I learn from my friends, see myself in their eyes, improve areas of my life via them and at the end of the day, view them as some of those Diamonds that I like so much in life. ;-) x's 10. lol And I prefer the Real Friends that say the hard things over the marshmallow "heeeeeyyyyy!" whooha "friends" any day.
You're awesome. And those friends who don't like each other? Dude, I had a close GF once tell me that I needed to choose between her and another GF. Both were of like personalities, only approached things differently....so I wasn't shocked that neither Queen Bee really "loved" the other. When Madame Choose prompted the gauntlet toss, I told her that my friendship with her had no bearing on the friendship with the other, and that I don't choose. Nor did I expect them to be friends -- why would I? I'm not a friggin' communist. lol She didn't understand my reasoning. I'm still friends with the GF she wanted me to dump. Haven't talked to Gauntlet Tosser in almost 2 years......hmm..
Love you, Man. Love that Wife of yours too. She's the shizz. And yes, she can work a room....genuinely, with a ladylike friendliness that surprises you with witty edge when you're not on your toes....;-)
Actually HarveyLee is RBS' smart aleck alter ego; but don't tell anybody. I think I have to maintain a nice guy image so I let HL take the heat.
Remember when you thought we were saying ' Harvey Lee' when we yelled, " Hard a lee " on our boats with Sonny? Thats where I came up with the nom de plume.
Good times, those.
Our prayers are with Dorothy and the medical people in the morning.
Happy to count you as a friend.
( Number two was Sonny, was Skeet the third guess?)
OH MY, yes. I remember now. HARVEYLEE...Oh how I miss those days RBS, so much has changed, and so much water under the bridge. You are correct, you...Sonny and yes, that best friend was Skeeter. I miss him so much, and I truly miss our times together.
If someone asked me to choose between two people, I'd choose neither of them and go drink a beer by myself to celebrate having them both out of my life.
I'm glad to know you even though we usually only see each other in passing. Sometimes you can just tell someone is "good people" and I know that fits you. I haven't had the time to keep up over the past year or so but hope as I begin to see light at the end of the tunnel our paths cross more frequently.
Honey, thank you for the kind words. I love you
You can choose your friends but you can't choose your family. I'm lucky your both Cuz
You are truly blessed. Love your blog and miss it when your off on a tear or something.LOL
I really enjoy reading all that you write and I love that you love Whitney so much. Glad that you are part of our family. Prayers for Dorothy. Mo
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