Make new friends, but keep the old.

One is silver and the other gold.

     – Girl Scout song (and also a poem from Joseph Parry)

Sometimes whole weeks zip by fully in the present, a blur of our current places and people. Then once in a while there is a blissful time of reunion and re-rooting, when the layers of our lives are revealed.

This past week I was able to visit with dear relatives, a mentor from my earliest work days, and friends who have known me for decades.

What a comfort to be with those who have witnessed our wandering and our discovery, our stumbling and our soaring, our sorrow and our joy. Those who can take a scrap of conversation and weave it into the fabric of our lives, understanding in a moment what others could never learn. Those who can be counted on to be in our corner, whether we’re quiet or grumpy or awkward or maybe even a little bit in the wrong.

Friends, let us honor each moment and each new connection.

And let us treasure the ties that run deep, the foundation of everything good and strong and true.