Friends

One piece of advice I would give to young married couples would be to make maximum effort to keep you friendships going during the craziness of the child raising years. This is very difficult as life tends to revolve around kids and careers. However as I approach 50 I realize that some of my most prized “possessions” are not a nice house and car but family and friends.

We have recently had the chance to reacquaint with old friends from our previous hometown. Our families had some great times back when our kids were still pre-school age. Now our kids are gown and out of high school except of their youngest. Last year we got a call and discovered they were in our neighborhood watching their youngest son play in the state baseball tournament. We couldn’t get there in time for the game but caught up with them afterward at Red Robin and had a great time visiting for several hours. I think we probably all wondered later why we ever lost touch in the first place. Well now baseball season is back and Debby and her oldest son spent a couple nights at our house so they could watch the spring baseball tournament. It was a great catching up and we look forward to visiting them this summer. Maybe Robert and I will even get in a short backpacking trip with our now grown sons.

I’ve done extensive backpacking the last 8 years but I’ll never forget the time Robert and I decided to backpack into a mountain lake almost 20 years ago now. The sun was setting as we arrived at the lake ready to cook up some dinner. At about the same time we both looked at each other thinking “I thought you brought the matches.” This was followed by some quick thinking as our dinner depended on having fire. We grabbed the small tea candle lantern I threw in my pack at the last minute and took off down the trail hoping to beat nightfall and use the cigarette lighter in the truck to get the candle lit. This turned into a 30 minute science experiment and I could give you a list of at least a dozen things that a car lighter will not give flame to. I think it was a piece of old t-shirt that finally flickered long enough to light our candle and we stumbled down the trail by candle light. Of course our flashlights were still back at camp.
We have both come a long way since then and I look forward to spending time our friends once again.

Your inheritance

Most people think of an inheritance as the money you are left by parents. While that may be true, the most important inheritance we receive is what was given to us as an example of how to live life. I've given some thought to that recently. My family has given me a rich inheritance. I was given a good work ethic by my father, taught to believe in myself by my mother. I have an older brother and two older sisters. My brother taught me about standing up for what is fair and right and the rewards of giving time to children. My oldest sister taught me about the importance of supporting each others efforts and my other sister taught me that it is always ok to have some fun! Of course the things I learned are many more then just that short list but those are things that come to mind that I can tie to specific events in my memory and they have made a lifelong impression on me.

I have a younger brother also. Hopefully I was able to pass down some good things to him as well. I guess we don't seem to think of learning from those younger, especially when we are in those early years of life. But that doesn't diminish his role either. My younger brother was my best friend growing up. The memories of the time we spent with each other hiking, rafting, building dams across streams while camping will always be with me. And I certainly can't forget the time we tossed fire crackers into the stall of some poor victim at that public restroom. We cried with laughter for days.

What inheritance will you leave? Maybe you didn't have such encouraging support growing up. I work with foster kids and certainly understand that life can be really unfair. But all the more reason for you to pass on some positive traits that you were denied. It's never to late to make a difference.