Reflections From a Country Girl

James Taylor said it all when he sang “You’ve Got a Friend” back in the early 1970s.  It is a lucky person indeed that finds a good friend or two along the way.  Hard times are always just a little bit better if there is a friend nearby. 

No matter who it is, man or beast, when a friend dies you lose a little bit of you.

 

My friend, Marshall, lost his best friend, Buford, recently.   Buford and Marshall had been best buddies for years.  He was a basset hound and he was tragically hit by a car.  

Marshall grieved like all of us would if we lost a best buddy.  Things were made a bit easier because of the good memories and great times they had.  Marshall was a better man because of Buford.  I venture to say he was a better husband and friend because of his relationship with Buford. 

I mention Marshall and Buford because I lost a good friend, Chris, this week. Chris lived life to the fullest.  He had a great sense of humor and always had a listening ear.  Even in his final days of his illness, Chris was very intuitive and thought of others, particularly, his loving wife more often than of himself. 

Tomorrow is his funeral.  

His whole family is here from out of town and his wife has many of them at the house she shared with Chris these last years of his life.  They had lived at Edisto Beach before which is where Chris and I often went fishing. We had some great talks while we were on the open water.  He was like a father and a friend all wrapped up into one.  He was the minister in the small community my husband and I lived in after my husband died years ago.  He, too was a minister of our church.  

I am a better person for having known Chris.  I will miss him. 

Barbara, his wife, and I have become even better friends over the years.  We are sure to continue being good friends.  Having experienced what it is like losing a minister husband, too, will be something we now have in common.  

So what do you do when you lose a good buddy?

As I said about Marshall some months back, you show others – by example -  how to adjust to the loss and move on.  For some of us it takes longer than others.  We heal and adjust in different ways and – in most cases – they are all ok.  

My wish for you today is that you have the chance at some point in your life to experience the closeness of best buddies or good friends.  I do know those who have never had a good friend and I am sad for them.  Friendships and buddies make life richer.  Perhaps you can find someone to be a buddy to if you have yet to experience that.  It certainly is worth it.  

~ Joellen

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 16th, 2008 at 1:44:pm and is filed under Death, Friendship, Living Life to the Fullest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.