Good Friend

As we have discussed before, friends mean the world to me. Since I don't have much in the way of family, my friends are my family. My friends Thom and Mary Ann Stone have allowed me to share their family for holidays and other occasions. They have been doing that for about 10 years or so. I have seen their children, Payton and Nathan, grow up. And, we have grown from Lego to Wii. My friends keep me young. They care about me, and I care about them. Sounds simple, huh? Yeah, maybe. But you see? I have a lot of baggage with people not caring about me. That brings me back to the walls. I recently did a survey, and one of the questions was about making friends easily. I said no, because of the walls. Sometimes, I open a door to a wall, and let someone in, or maybe I'll walk out for a few minutes, but then I will retreat back within the walls. Sometimes, I will even attempt to breach someone else's walls. That's when I make a friend. It isn't often. So, this brings me to a story. I have a friend named Joni. She has a lot of other friends. I worked with her at Macy's, and we became friends through work. She and I worked to bust a worldwide scam that targeted stolen credit cards and merchandise. We have a lot in common. When I left Macy's in December, it was at the same time that a mutual friend died suddenly. It really affected her. At his funeral, Joni and I shared a long hug and cry. It was a release, but also a sad time for her. A couple of months later, a friend of hers was seriously hurt, and I think she began to realize that maybe there was a need in her life to explore the fact that there was life beyond Macy's. Her life had been consumed with work. We began to talk. Mostly, it was via e-mails. Some were visits to Columbia or Augusta. A few were phone calls. Joni swore me to secrecy. She couldn't have anyone to find out what she was thinking. We have mutual friends that could have helped her with her decision, but she trusted me with my counsel and secrecy. Some would say that I have a character flaw as a gossip. But, Joni trusted me, and I didn't let her down. When she would talk to me and sound depressed, I would tell a mutual friend that they might want to e-mail her and say a kind word. I wouldn't say why, and they just thought that she was having a bad day. But, it was an attempt to just keep her spirits up. Two weeks ago, I got a little gift for her and brought it to her on the day that she told Macy's she was leaving after 22 years. That day, she was happier than I had seen her in a very long time. She saw that there was a life out there. It will take her a while to decompress, much like it did for me. She will do some travelling, and work on her house. She will help out her father and spend more time with friends. She is a special friend to me, and a very caring person. Maybe that is a trait that others had not seen in her, but I have. She cares about me and is a dear friend. After she left Macy's, I apologized to a couple of her friends who didn't know she was leaving. I said I was sorry that I had not told them about her decision before, and that I had to lie to them as to why I had come to Columbia or gone to Augusta to meet with her. Either I said I was antiquing or just hanging out. Their response to me was that they understood that I was a "good friend". That meant the world to me. I also wanted them to know that I could be trusted and am not a gossip. It is hard to be away from my good friends, and maybe that will change before too long. But for now, to all my good friends--thanks for letting me get close to you. If we work together at some point down the road, that would be great. But, we are family. I can't be any more sincere than that.