Friends, etc.

By Jim Hagarty

When we are kids, we want friends and lots of them.

As time goes by, the number of buddies dwindles. A natural selection sort of process.

Finally, we realize we have only one true friend. One true friend is all we need. He may not be someone we see on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Mates of the Soul do not wear watches or carry calendars. They were forged in the furnace of the universe. The bond is strong, the steel well tempered.

We have one other true friend if we will accept him and that is ourselves. That guy is a little less reliable. We sometimes treat him badly, ignore his needs, put him down. But he signed on with us on Day One and plans to be there till The End.

Shocking sometimes that we don’t treat him as well as we should.

Thank God we have that one other friend to turn to.

Author: Jim Hagarty

I am a 72-year-old retired journalist, busy recovering from a lifelong career as an unretired journalist. This year marks a half century of my scratching out little fables about life. My interests include genealogy, humour and music. I live in a little blue shack in Canada and spend most of my time trying to stay out of trouble. I am not that good at it. I also spent years teaching journalism. Poor state of journalism today: My fault. I have a family I don't deserve, a dog that adores me, and two cars the junk yard refuses to accept. My prized possessions include my old guitar and a razor my Dad gave me when I was 14 and which I still use when I bother to shave. Oh, and my great-great-grandfather's blackthorn stick he brought from Ireland in the 1850s. I have only one opinion but it is a good one: People take too many showers.