That's what friends are for

As I scanned I heard "There Goes My Life" and stop to listen. Usually this song invokes tears as I think of my boys growing up and leaving home. It usually gives me pause to give thanks for the time we have together now, and reminds me to appreciate messes, wet kisses, and sticky fingers. Today it did nothing for me and I realize that I am at a peaceful place with my boys right now. As a mother I always strive to improve and be better, but gratitude for their wonderful littleness isn't something that I need to work on at the moment.

I scan again and hear broken soundbites. No single one speaks to me, but as a whole they call. Snippets from the Brewers game make me think of an old neighbor. He is the father of an old friend and he is in the hospital right now with a spinal cord injury. Brief memories of how he touched my life come to me, and I say a prayer for him and his family.

Other bits of songs invoke brief flashes of the past, and the friends who touched my life. I realize just how lucky I am. I have a wonderful family and amazing friends, and this is what is important. It's not my bank balance, but these real people who have touched me in some way that are important. Even those friends who have passed through my life, have touched my life and made me a better person. Their love helped to make me who I am now, and I can draw on the lessons learned from my friendships, past and present, to help me become a better person tomorrow.

So no, I didn't hear Dionne Warwick and friends singing "That's What Friends are For" on the radio, rather my own friends sang this to me in my heart. Singing in your heart, that is what friends are for.