Have I ever bragged about my sister Jody before? She's eleven. Smart. Beautiful. Sassy. And she is an amazing writer.
She wrote this poem about friendship the other day:
A friend can be anyone,
Anyone who respects you.
A friend can be your next door neighbor,
A person who did a kind favor,
Or even your enemy.
Having a friend is like putting batteries into a clock,
Or sailing a boat in a dock.
Take this away and what do you have?
A clock that doesn’t work and an empty dock.
A person who doesn’t have a friend is like a book with no pages,
A sky with no sun,
A pen with no ink,
Or having no blanket in a cold, windy night.
Give a good fight?
‘Tis is wrong.
-----
Essentially, a friend is "anyone who respects you," even your enemy.
I've never thought of that before. That forces me to wonder -- am I a true friend? Am I patient with those around me when I am stressed? Do I listen to their ideas, and really think about them, even if I don't agree? Can I love my friends the way they are, without trying to mold them into somebody I think I might like better?
When an eleven year-old teaches you about life (beyond the fact that boys have infectious diseases), it's humbling. And reminds me of these wonderful people who somehow want to be my friends:
We have fun being awkward together.
I look up to these girls so much.
My best friends. I could not have made it through college without my siblings (+ JC).
I don't think they will ever know how much they mean to me.
Kenji. Sticks with me during those stressful moments.
He teaches me how to have fun (that does not involve econometrics).
I am still working on that.
We love each other. Enough said.
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