The Embrace of Friendship
Life for all but the hermit is a string of social interactions. It is meeting people, leaving people, remembering people, forgetting people. In all those relationships there are some that standout like flakes of gold floating on the surface of a gold pan. They are uniquely valuable and so precious they will span a lifetime. These are the people whose bond seems unregulated by time. Years may span face to face meetings but each time one occurs it feels as if time and life has stood still. Like nary a day has passed and conversations and embraces resume as if left only moments before. These friends are rare because their companionship transcends the physical and intellectual to something much deeper. The connection is almost spiritual in the way you become intertwined, woven into each others lives. My friend Francesca is this way. We first met when we were both in the university, her in Italy and me in America. I was traveling in Italy and our lives intersected. B