The Friendship Crisis--dedicated to Amy

I received the following email from a friend today and it was so good I just had to post it on my blog. It is totally what I believe and hope for in a friend and also try to live up to as a friend as well.



Adapted from The Friendship Crisis, by Marla Paul (Rodale Press, 2004).Everybody needs friends! Having someone to laugh with, cry with--someone who understands and cares and supports you--is part of what makes life worth living. But in today's busy world, we often don't make enough time to nurture those friendships that are so essential.



SIMPLE SOLUTION: Here are five tips that are the equivalent of friendship vitamins, sure to help a relationship flourish. Read them here:



1. Pay attention. Keep tabs on the significant events in a friend's life. Did her daughter just head off to college? Call to see how she's holding up and invite her over for coffee. Did her dad have bypass surgery? Check in.



2. Exercise your dialing finger. Okay, most of us have touch-tone phones, but you get the idea: friendship thrives on knowing the minutiae of each other's lives. You can't know them unless you stay in touch. Don't quibble about whose turn it is to call.



3. Crack open your date book. The happiest women wedge spaces into their week for pals no matter how busy they are. They meet for muffins before work, hit side-by-side treadmills at the health club, sashay out for dinner on a weeknight. Make it a nonnegotiable date.



4. Raise a flute of champagne. Sure, we need people when life clops us between the eyes. But it's just as important to cheer the victories. Did she finally finish her master's thesis or nab a promotion? Take her out to lunch or send her a note.



5. Rain compliments. Most of us don't get a lot of strokes--from our boss, our family, or our kids. That's what friends are for. I know a woman who makes me feel gorgeous and brilliant--well, at least attractive and capable--nearly every time we talk. How could you not love her?



I am so lucky that I was able to find this friendship with my best friend Amy. She is my rock as I have said to others on numerous occasions. She totally follows all 5 of the friendship vitamins. Amazingly enough even after she has moved to Montana we have still remained as close as ever. We call eachother many times a day. We know silly things such as what eachother ate for lunch and how well our children slept last night. We also know deeper things and help eachother through the rough patches of our lives. Amy this blog is dedicated to you and I will always treasure our friendship. I love you and feel so blessed to have such an amazing person in my life. You are my hero, my best friend.