This post originally appeared on June 30,2014
I never was a Girl Scout but one of my daughters did a short stint selling cookies in the green uniform. Cutest ever, for sure. Other than the addictive Thin Mints, the thing I recall most from that time is one of their songs. The main line was "Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other is gold".
A package arrived on my doorstep today that brought that song to my mind. A box full of love, just like my family spells it - F-O-O-D. Oh my goodness - there was a container of spiced pretzels so good it would make your tongue slap your brains out. A canister of lemon bars that caused greed to spill out amongst my family members. And a tin of homemade cheese straws that will most surely be served in Heaven because they are were a delicacy fit for the King of Kings. Now that I have you drooling, I'm sorry you don't get to share them. Trust me - DIVINE.
From an old friend. Or as my friend DeeAnn puts it - "a longtime friend". The gold kind. I was fortunate enough growing up to not only have my own peer group but to also get to piggyback on some of my older brother's friendships. Lots of his buddies were kind enough to let me hang out with them from time to time, especially if I came bearing brownies! And the gals were sweet to me whether I had anything to offer or not! But this gold friend that sent the goodies - well, what makes it even more awesome than the taste or the longtime relationship or the connection as a friend of my brother's is that this is the MOM of an old friend. She knew my family liked these things so she slaved in her kitchen to make them for me. That's 24 karat gold, y'all, 24 karat.
In a world where people change jobs and homes and friends as quickly as I change out seasons of clothes, I am so very grateful for my friends. All kinds of friends. Acquaintances, folks that share a sports chair beside me for swim season, church friends, business associates, neighborhood friends, cyber-colleagues, but especially gold friends. Friends that you have history with. Shared memories. Friends that you might not stay in physical contact with but have hearts still connected after all these years.
Yes, I am very grateful for gold friends.
And cheese straws. Just sayin.