For you (re-posted from almost one year ago)

The well worn cliche' - life is short. So cliche and yet, so appropriate. None of us know what path our lives will take, what our present will be, what our future will hold. One day we might wake up and the world we have known for the past 20, 30 years will have been shattered in the blink of an eye.

I realize that I have always been a rather emotionally distant person. Not including my family, of course, but to those on the outside world - pseudo friends, aquaintenances, co-workers. Rarely do I let my wall down to truly share who I really am. But in the last few years, I have forged lasting and strong relationships with certain individuals and families and these relationships are important. They are carved into my life in a way that affects the way I think, the things I do and the reasons behind which I do them. I have never been one of those "Friends are my family" people, because frankly, I have a family of my own. But I have now come to realize that these friends have become a different kind of family - equally important in a non-biological, non-obligatory way. They are part of my life. Part of the lives of my children. An integral component of my identity as a Christian.

It is still somewhat difficult for me to invest in relationships outside of my comfort zone. As I get older, I have less time to spend with my own family and whatever time I do have I want to fully embrace. But making these friends and forging these bonds have made me realize how important a role we play in each others lives. Friendship, like any other relationship, is about give and take. Sacrifice and generosity. Sharing joy and sharing pain.

You realize how profoundly important someone is to you when their joy becomes your own joy, their pain becomes your own pain. Their lives become a part of your own life.