187 - Friendship

My best friend in all the world, my dear Zoë, had surgery on Tuesday, her second in six months. As I awoke early Tuesday morning, I knew she was at her hospital, being readied for the procedure. When the telephone rang before noon, there she was, home again, positive about the skill of her surgeon and her ability to recover.

Zoë and I have known each other for 23 years. She married my husband’s best friend, Jimmy. By some lucky circumstance, the four of us are all friends, not just two couples who get along in that single constellation. Many Saturday nights they join us for dinner and cut-throat games of pinochle. She is my partner at cards.

Zoë is someone special. She has a gift for drawing people out, for listening and learning their stories. She is athletic and active. We have been each other’s sounding boards for all these years. There has been no sorrow or happiness that we didn’t share. Now, as I pray for her recovery, I draw upon all the good energy created by our years of caring. We need each other.

One Hundred Eighty-Seven

Friendship

With the prisms of our souls
We refract Your light,
Casting upon the ground
A rainbow of life’s colors.

My friend begins the spectrum, the rich red tones,
And I am its end, the splendid blues.
Overlapping, we form the whole sun light,
Infinite hues of Your creation.

We are complements, companions:
Each completes the other’s offerings;
We are day and night together,
Bound by Your good grace.