photo used by permission by Aaron (Bishop Carroll student)

I moved to Calgary via Nova Scotia and Atikameg in 1981. It was a move that would change the course of my life and so began my story of lifelong adult relationships.

Fortunately for me I have had wonderful friendships in my life, so I knew how they could make a difference and sustain me.  I have lifelong childhood friends from Nova Scotia who remain my dear friends today, even though I have been away for thirty-three years. We still make a point of seeing each other and celebrating our friendships every summer. 

Little did I know when I moved to Calgary, it would become my home or that I would discover extraordinary life giving friendships that would sustain me for life,”the gang” as we would so affectionately call ourselves. My friends are wonderful, kind, intelligent, considerate, amazing, loving and caring people. Our connections remain unbreakable.

The thing that I think is so amazing about these people is that we have been friends for over twenty-five years and never ever had a fight or major disagreement with one another.

According to Robin Yapp,” it was found that both men and women meet up with their closest friends just six times a year on average.” Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-202987/Friends-lifetime.html#ixzz2KzYXk22F

In over twenty-five years we have missed very little time where we go not seeing each other on a regular basis or celebrate a meal together. We have celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, New Years, birthdays, births, deaths, and we often get together for absolutely no reason at all. There rarely goes by a month where we don’t sit down once , twice or even more times together to enjoy a feast. 

Every celebration creates fabulous memories. We laugh, sing, play games, tell stories and just plain enjoy each other’s company. Our children have been blessed with such great role models of positive, lasting friendships.

We are there for each other whenever anyone needs something no matter what. I can count on these people for whatever I need. They are my family. No, we are not related, but we are closer than some families. We have made a connection that will last a lifetime.

What do we all have in common? We moved to Calgary to work. We needed to be able to use the skills from our education. It was a place to create a life for ourselves. There are other commonalities, but this and the fact that we all had no family in Calgary has brought us together.

We all happen to be from a place near the water.  Prince Edward Island, Vancouver and Nova Scotia.   Others come to some of our celebrations, but not all of them because they have family here in Calgary. The rest of us don’t.

I absolutely love these people, and so do our children. We have been blessed with laughter in abundance over the years, positive memories that are etched vividly in my mind and will be passed on down to our children. There are stories upon stories that have been shared over the years. We never get tired of telling each other stories.

As I get ready to celebrate another fantastic seafood dinner with my buddies tomorrow, I know that we will have a glorious time. I look forward to each and every time we spend together.  I wish you could sit around the table with us and hear the joy and laughter that abounds. If you listen close enough maybe you will.

When I tell people about how much we really care about each other after all these years, they are often amazed. Really, we have never fought with each other about anything throughout the years.

What a gift I have been given. If I could I’d jump over mountains for these people I most definately would. They make such a difference in my life.

I have been so blessed with all the friends that surround me. I can’t even put into words what they have meant to me.

If I pass anything onto my children it will be this. 

Find great friends, not friends you necessarily always agree with all the time, but friends who you love being around and they love being around you.

Friends who :

• accept you just the way you are
• you can laugh and cry with
• would be there in a minute no matter what you needed
• the spouses like and respect each other
• don’t mind being silly with you no matter how old you are
• share the good times and the bad with you
• you always know will be there no matter what the circumstances
• share your hopes, dreams, successes and losses

Friends who always seem to know the right thing to say or do. 

I am so happy to celebrate my friends. I want to shout from the mountaintops that YOU have provided me with some of the happiest memories of my life. I LOVE YOU so much!

Click on the link for a digital tribute to my friends…

 Click here: Celebration of Everlasting Friendship.