Investing in Old Friends

One of the greatest titles we can have is "old friend". We never appreciate how important old friends are until we are older. The problem is we need to start our old friendships when we are young. We then have to nurture and grow those friendships over our middle age when a busy life and changing geographies can cause us to neglect those friends. Today is the day to invest in those people we hope will call us 'old friend" in the years to come. ~ Grant Fairley

Today was a busy Saturday. It started with going to church to meet my retreatant. Afterwards, I ran into two other spiritual directors. We had a good chat as we were either arriving or preparing to leave. I like getting to know one of them in particular who is a positive person and deeply rooted in Ignatian spirituality. We began to discuss what the director group might look like without a priest at the helm since we are losing two of the Jesuits to other cities over the summer. Lay leadership seems to be a strong possibility since a number of us have now been here longer than the Jesuits who have been our guide. I look forward to getting to know these folks better and collaborating with them. I do hope to call these people “old friends” in the future.

From there I went to help old friends move. This couple has moved back to Winnipeg to start a Chemin Neuf Community here and today took possession of the former St. Charles Retreat Centre run by the Oblate Sisters. I arrived after the moving truck had left and all the boxes were unloaded. Apparently I arrived in perfect time for lunch! I was able to help move boxes, make a bed, fill a linen closet, and take some photos of this historical event.

I was able to stop at home for about half an hour before meeting two of my long-time friends for yet another birthday supper. We met at an Ethiopian Restaurant downtown for a tasty meal, eaten with Injera bread and no utensils. We had no idea what we were eating as we shared a platter of veggies, beef, chicken, lamb, and egg.

I sipped a spiced tea as we continued chatting after devouring the shared meal. After updating each other on our lives, our conversations bounced all over the map as they usually do. I learn so much from and value greatly these women. We have invested well in one another’s lives. We have busy lives and it would be easy to neglect the friendship but we always manage to find time to celebrate milestones, to check in with one another, and to nurture our spirits with our tales. Tonight we were celebrating me but we could easily have been rejoicing over the one who will soon have walked on this earth for three-quarters of a century. That too is a significant milestone.

The above quote is good but I think I have appreciated how important my friends are early in life. I have known for a long time how blessed I am because my friends are scattered all over the globe and I try not to neglect them. I have a pretty healthy bank account in this investment. How about your investments? Are you in overdraft or do you have enough to cover your retirement days?

Peace,

Suzanne