Friend in ME. Friend in YOU.

Mick Jagger crooned “Time is on my side, yes it is”, the Stones remaking a song written the year before they released the single. They were wrong. As everyone knows, with every candle blown out, time most certainly isn’t. Perhaps that’s why I put myself into every relationship — every family member and every friend, and my time with them — and put so much of myself into it. There were a couple moments in my life where time ended. And then, all of a sudden, the clock started ticking again, the miracle of life still very much in my future, even if at those very moments it seemed completely otherwise. Jagger lied; well, at least the writer of the song did.

A friend sent me a text once, “God didn’t add another day in your life because you needed it. He added it because someone out there needs you.” I believe that, very much.

The older I get, the harder it is for me to say goodbye. I’ve found that I’ve become so very connected to those that I love; all of them. I believe in the smallness of the world, that we are all connected; and I derive strength from that connection — the interconnectedness of life, which of course reminds me of my relationships with my family and friends.

“We are earth people on a spiritual journey to the stars. Our quest, our earth walk, is to look within, to know who we are, to see that we are connected to all things, that there is no separation, only in the mind.” — from “Sacred Hoops”, by Phil Jackson (quoting the Lakota Indian tribe)

I wrote this in September 2009 after an amazing weekend in Los Angeles with some of my favourite people.

“After a wonderful weekend filled with everything, that was what I was left with: love, life and laughter. My best friends gathered ‘round, and love found its way, heaped with a healthy dose of laughter, ever so full of life. While the years have been kind to us, much has happened. And while we do live the life filled with a youthful fervor, we are no longer young. Our bodies ache just a little bit longer these days. Life is more complicated these days. No matter cos we still do not let age get in the way of a good time… especially when we get together. And for a time we can forget the world around us, and celebrate an epic friendship, one where we are connected to each other, our spirits alive in each other.”

I truly believe I will always feel this way; connected to the people that I love. I believe this connection, among other things, is what keeps me young. It’s most definitely what keeps me going. A friend in me, you get a friend for life.