An Old Friend and a Blanket

A couple weeks ago my friend Don came to Lansing for a short visit. He lives in NY now with his wife but he is from Michigan and still makes the occasional trek back here to visit family or for work. Don and I go back a long time. I met him 6th grade and we became friends almost immediately. He was much bigger than I was at the time so I would often use him as a body guard when I would get mouthy with others which happened a lot during my Jr. high days.

As we became closer friends, I recall my Mom being concerned that he might be a bad influence on me. I'm not sure why but the irony is that over our many years of friendship my Mom became quite fond of Don and welcomed into the family. In fact, a running joke was that she would often meet his girlfriends before I would.

While he was visiting this past time, we had a good time

playing race for the whitehouse, scrabble and even Talking Clue. It was fun to have someone over who appreciates games as much as I do. And like always he allowed me to win for which I am thankful.

But the best moment came as I was getting a blanket for his bed. Don recognized the blanket because I had bought it in high school while he and I were a missions trip to South Dakota. This incident may sound trivial but when he noticed the blanket it dawned on me just how far back our relationship went. Nobody else I know would recognize that blanket but Don did and that said something about our friendship. It revealed a shared history that was unique to us. To others it was just a blanket. To Don it was a reminder of our youth and the experiences we shared together.

As I get older my circle of friends continues to expand and sometimes it would be easy to shirk some old relationships. They often change and take work. But the reality is that you can never replace the depth of friendship that is forged over many years and many memories. Don's visit reminded me just fortunate I am to have such a long and enduring friendship.