I read an article this week by a hospice nurse who listed the five regrets she hears most from people as they are nearing death. One is they regret they did not stay in touch with friends. That tugs at my heart, especially since last week I saw some friends I haven’t seen in years. Such wonderful memories and shared experiences! They form the very fiber of our being and connect us in special ways. It’s a great blessing to reconnect with someone from the past, but I imagine it’s even greater to maintain contact through the years. How is it . . . why is it . . . we tend to let friends drift to the sideline of our lives?

I don’t want to be one that finishes life with such regret. I want to go forward with full appreciation of friends – both those from many years past and those I am only now meeting. I suspect that it’s only in relating with one another that we can really get to know ourselves. We are joined together in this wonderful adventure of life. Thank you, my friends (current and those yet to come), for our travels together. I appreciate you.