Friends and Family

Friends are fun. I always enjoy getting together with my friends. Two of my oldest and dearest friends are those that I met as a teenager while I lived in Germany from 1968-1971. Dawn lives in Florida, and Laura lives in South Carolina. We get to see each other every now and then. I think it is awesome that we are still in touch with each other. We all moved away from Germany and went to several other places, but we were able to find each other again and resume our friendships. Usually, the times that you see faraway friends or relatives are for weddings or funerals. Isn't it strange that we do not get to take the time, or just don't take the time, to visit friends and family anymore? Both of my grandmothers used to love to visit. In older and more gentler times, Sunday was the day to go visiting. My dad's mother loved to ride all over the mountains to visit her kinfolk. My mom's mother used to love to go around Savannah or to Sylvania to visit friends and relatives. I wonder why we don't do much of this anymore. Transportation is much easier to use these days than it was in the past. We have cars, trains, planes, etc. that move much faster than any cars or trains of the old days. I suppose we are all just too busy. Why are we so busy? I love to visit my cousins. Cousins can be your best friends. My momma and her sister loved their cousins so much, that they formed a cousins' get together at least once a year. I think we can learn a lot from watching our parents and grandparents to see how they treat each other and their loved ones. People of the modern age seem to have decided that family is unimportant, or that you need to retreat from family as much as possible. The people of the United States seem to be the only ones who feel this way. People of other countries and cultures still revere family life, the extended family, and living with and caring for family. I am glad that I was raised with the old fashioned values of the importance of family. I don't know where I would be right now without my wonderful family and friends. Best friends are like your family. I feel like my best friends are part of my extended family. To me, my family and friends are the most important parts of my life. I love you all!