This episode is about the value of friendship and family.  As I said in episode five I was off to Dallas for our yearly get together with my “BFF” college friends.  My suggestion on living well was to always stay close to your best friends so that your life will be enriched and filled with the love that only a best friend can give.

from left to right: Sally, Sylvia, Starr, and Sylvia’s new dog Jake. In the back row: myself

We now feel eighty after taking this picture. We messed up the “order” of our yearly photograph. So now when we show all the years this one will  be in reverse.  Does it really matter, at eighty you can do whatever you want.  Can’t you?

This year our visit was particularly special as we excitedly anticipated seeing each other. We enjoyed four days of games, entertainment and great food.  We walked and talked and spent a great deal of quality-time sharing about our families and our lives.

We also needed unconditional support with family concerns and cherished the insights given. We cried a little for the struggles each of us were having. These interactions between us were profound and positive in the way only “BFF” friend can give. We felt stronger and more settled in just the four wonderful days we spent being together.  We can’t wait until next year to once again experience that special time only “BFF” friends can encounter together.

This is the value of friendship and why it is so important to keep those long lasting friendships close to your heart.  No one understands you more than those friends. They have walked in your shoes; so to speak, all through the years you have known each other.  Your children haven’t walked those miles with you so they don’t understand your fears, your values, your dreams, but your close friends do. Close friends are your blanket of love and understanding like no others.  Keep them close!

I arrived home in time to celebrate Mother Day with my family. Since family is the other focal point in this blog it’s important for me to describe my three children and the ways they are my rock and my reason for living.

I have three wonderful and accomplished children.  I am blessed and feel God and my special angel “Sandy” kissed me from above.  Sandy has been my guardian angel since she left this world in 1948. I always felt she sat on my right shoulder and looked after my children and help guide them and me through this uncertain world.

When I held my first child Jete’ in my arms I thought life could not be more complete until my son Duke arrived the next year.  I had the perfect family a girl and a boy.  Life was good!  Surprise, surprise two years later we had a third bundle of joy Rene’e.  Each of my children has given the world three children. My grandchildren  have brought a sense of purpose and meaning and excitement to all of our lives.

My three children have remained close but not without a struggle. Sometimes we have to pray and seek guidance to overcome conflicts and hard feelings.  However each one of my children brings a unique perspective to the family dynamics that only she or he can bring.  I can’t imagine my life without seeing them, hearing them, speaking with them, loving them.  They are the reason I wake up in the morning and have sweet dreams at night.  They are my blessings!  Thank you God!

From left to right:  Katy, a sophomore at Savannah School of Art, Jete’. Claire, a sophomore at University of Kentucky. in the back: Tommy and Ryan, who graduates this June from the University of Denver.

From left to right: Anita, Duke, Gunner and Dennis.  Anita is a freshman in high school and loves dance. Gunner a freshman at Stanford, Dennis in the seventh grade and loves baseball.

From left to right: Christian a Sophomore at Savannah school of art, the newly weds Max and Bailey, they were married this past November and are young professionals, Craig,Rene’e, and Parker a senior at Ole Miss, and their wonderful dogs Bear, River, Whiskey.

Best friends enrich your life and are the people you trust above all others to keep your brightest and darkest secrets. They are the people you call with good news and the ones who can soothe your soul during times of great sadness. A best friend can be summed up best like this:

My fifth suggestion on living well is always stay close to your best friends so that your life will be enriched and filled with love that only a best friend can give you.

Visiting friends is a must in my life!  I have three groups of friends that I must visit ever so often because of the joy they bring to my life. They are my high school friends, my college friends, and friends who used to live in my city who have moved away.

I am lucky that my high school friends get together often each year to celebrate whatever they can dream up to celebrate so we can all get together and share stories of family and crazy things we did in our youth. These times keep me grounded in the reality of my life and who I will always be “myself, Katy” at ten, than twenty, turning thirty, than forty, God forbid fifty, oh my God sixty, how did I get to be seventy, can you believe I’m eighty!  If I can remain true to myself than life would have served me well.

Some of my high school friends at the Christmas luncheon in Lake Charles, Louisiana.  Shirl’s mother Doris is in her nineties and keeps us all on our toes.

My second set of best friends are my college roommates from my years at LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama.  Those were the years of discovery and adventure.  Those were the years of awakening as to who I could be, what I would like to achieve, and what kind of legacy I would like to leave behind for hopefully others to build on or consider worthy.

Starr, me, Sylvia, Sally at Starr’s home in Atlanta sooo many years ago.

Starr, me, Sylvia and Sally  with “Brandi” about nine years ago at Sylvia’s home in Dallas.

Starr, Sylvia, Sally and myself get together once a year now usually at our various homes in Dallas, Fort Walton Beach, Atlanta, and New Orleans.  I am leaving tomorrow for Dallas so my next Blog will share all the fun we had. Don’t forget to tune in next weekend to hear all about it.

My third group of friends who get together to celebrate and contemplate life are Patti and Andy and myself.  We don’t get to see each other very often but when we do we bring the house down with laughter, wine, and good times.

Andy, myself, and Patti years earlier.

I like to think the benefit of friendship is immeasurable.  That every great friendship improves your self-confidence because you know there is some one who truly gets you and loves you for who you are.  I also think every great friendship is the only thing that can encourage you to change or help you avoid an unhealthy habit or lifestyle because you trust that friends judgment and are willing to listen to his/her advice.

The last group of friends live in my hometown and one about one hour away.  Joann and Coco have been my friends for about five or six years.

It really doesn’t matter how long you have been friends with someone it has to do with connection.  Both these ladies became instant friends and that friendship grew stronger with each year.  They are the people I keep in touch with all the time.  Sharing our lives with each other is an important part of my days.  Everyone needs friends like these two ladies; friends who pick up the telephone to say hello I’m thinking about you. Hearing their voice, speaking of their life experiences, and they also wondering about yours. Just to hear their voice,  having them telephone, or having lunch together says you are special to me and makes my day special.

Joann and me!

 Coco and me!

 Why not share some of your special friendships with me which I can pass on to others.