How do you find a friend?
“How do you find a friend?” a son asked his dad as he tugged at his shirt while he was reading the daily newspaper. The dad lowered the newspaper, swooped up the boy, and sat him on his leg. The two made eye contact before the father continued, “Well, let me tell you about a few of the friends I met. The friends who began as strangers.” The boy looked up at his dad and covered his mouth with his hands as he giggled joyfully, waiting in astonishment for the words to come out of his mouth.
This first friend, well, I met her in first grade. Let’s call her Jessica. She was more on the quiet side, but our teacher seated us together so we ended up talking for classwork at first and then played together during recess. She had a beautiful smile and was always safe to be around. We grew up together and she always managed to come back into my life after we graduated high school. Jessica came into my life in ways I never expected. This friend was the person who came as a guide before I went off to distant lands. She was the person who reminded me of who I was every step of the way at childhood. This, my son, is the friend who you do not want to mess up with because they are the gift that keeps giving no matter how much time you spend with this person. Treasure that friend with your life. The second friend, well, this friend I met when I started thinking about how to be like your grandpa. The dad paused for a second as he thought back to what it would be like if his dad saw him with his grandchild right now. “I wish you could have seen the journey we both went on to reach this point,” the dad thought to himself. “Dad, the second friend!” the son exclaimed as he tugged at the dad’s shirt.
The second friend was someone who randomly came in at the right place and right time, let’s call him Anh. Anh witnessed me after becoming an adult. He was kind of like the older brother you never knew you needed. Anh witnessed everything and captured it using a camera. He reminded me a lot of your uncle and grandpa. They both knew how to capture specific moments and allow you to immerse yourself in a past world. Anh was the person who helped your dad a lot when he was figuring out his place on earth. Treasure this friend with your life.
The son looked up in amazement and smiled.
Now, the third one is a beautiful woman who changed my world after I met her.
“Is this mom?” the son asked.
Yes, this is your mom, and this is the story of how I met her…
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