Am I Happy – Friendships

There are times when I question my life, etc. Am I happy, etc.? Most times I just don’t think about stuff like that. And, if I do think of stuff like that, I just try to fluff it off, and just trudge on. I don’t have a lot of (excessive) drama (a good thing) in my life. I’ve have had a great career, and somehow was able to achieve some ordinary (but, significant for me) goals I set for myself long ago during that time. While I don’t consider my life to be a total success (in many ways), I do know I’ve led a really good life, without a whole lot of hardships. I’ve just been lucky that way. No, it wasn’t due to my so-call smarts, or because I knew what I was doing – it was luck, plain and simple, either being in the right place at the right time, or knowing the right people, etc. I’ve made lots of boneheaded mistakes in my first twenty, thirty, and even forty years of adulthood.

Usually, when people (or the guy on my shoulder) ask if I’m happy, I just have to think about the people that care about me, or the people I care about who make me smile, and laugh, those who understand me, and my “different” sense of humor, those I care about, those that know I care about them, those that hug me when I see them, and those that allow me to hug them, those friendships that have lasted five, ten, fifteen yrs, and yes, those BFF friendships of mine that have lasted almost double that last number. Although I’ve used the words of friend and friendships, I also mean family. I don’t see my blood family (in Mich.) that often, but I am so glad to know they care about me and hopefully, they also know how much they mean to me. I’m also talking about my “family” here in MN who welcomed me into their lives almost six yrs ago with the birth of a baby girl. I am so grateful for their love for me.

I especially want to call out one friendship that is now moving into its tenth yr. Its been very sporadic through that period (for lots of reasons – mostly stupidly on my part), but we’ve reconnected now, and I am so very glad we’ve renewed our friendship. I don’t have a clue whether our friendship will continue for another ten yrs (or more), but I just want them to know, I’ll always be their friend, and will always care about their happiness. I am hoping they will be reading this, and will think think to themselves: Boy, is he talking about me?

Yes, I am. Thank you for your friendship.