Celebrating Friendship: International Friendship Day July 30 

July 30 has been designated "International Friendship Day." It's a day to reach out to a friend and let them know you appreciate their influence in your life. (Or perhaps it's a time to reconnect with an old friend you haven't been in touch with for a while.)

Have you heard that saying, "It takes a long time to grow old friends?" Or the song, "Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold."? How barren our lives would be without friends!  

I think about my oldest friend, Rosie, whom I met in first grade (back then, we called ourselves "pals"). Then there are friends from the "distant past": Milena, Linda, Etta, Charlene, Nancy, and Kathy........ and very new friends from recent times: Beza, Katie, Janette, Livia, and Eileen. I have to mention my "student friends"...... Darcy and Michele, whom I taught in grade school.... (they are so kind as to include this old teacher in their lives after all these years.) I am rich in friends!

We may address our friends in many ways. We may call them our amigo, bestie, homie, partner-in-crime, best bud, crony, chum, sidekick, confidant, bosom buddy, kemosabe, main man, BF4L, and so on.

A few famous sentiments:

• Thomas Aquinas said:  "There is nothing on earth more to be prized than true friendship."
• "No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." (Robert Southey)
• Henry Ford said, "My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me."  (I heartily agree!)

"Friendship Day"

An official "Friendship Day" was being celebrated back in the 1930's. (Yes, Hallmark Greeting Cards company was already figuring out ways to make more money by inventing yet another holiday.) Paraguay was the first country to celebrate Friendship Day countrywide in 1958. In 2011, the UN declared a worldwide celebration to honor this holiday.

Some of the most fundamental aspects of true friendship are expressed in these quotes:

• "A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you" (Elbert Hubbard).
• "Wherever we are, it is our friends that make our world," declared Henry Drummond.
• Poet Emily Dickinson said, "My friends are my estate."
• "Life has no pleasure higher or nobler than that of friendship." (Samuel Johnson)

In celebrating Friendship Day, here are a few suggestions:

1. Meet a friend for lunch or dinner.
2. Send a greeting card, give flowers or chocolates, bake cookies to give a special friend.
3. Write a letter telling your friend what they mean to you.
4. Give your friend a book of poetry on friendship.
5. Go to a special event or movie with your friend.
6. Write a poem called "A Friend Like You" and give it to them.
7. For kids:  Make a friendship band.

There are as many ways to honor your friends as there are personalities! It's a moment for creativity to "kick in." Surprise your friend!

"Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget." (G. Randolf)

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "Many people will walk in and out of your life, but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart."   Who has left a footprint on your heart?

Cultivating friendships is part of establishing a healthy, flourishing community. Let's make Burien the "friend-liest" city in Washington!

YOUR THOUGHTS:

Feel free to leave a comment below regarding a friend who has impacted your life (left an imprint) in a special way.

"My friend... "

‍