Life Lessons: Embracing friendship

I envision the end as being very peaceful once we open ourselves up to God. I feel it will also be a very lonely time as we have to face death alone with our memories flooding our mind as we start to fall into a permanent sleep hearing the voices of the ones closest to us and seeing visions of their faces before we say that last goodbye. It seems to me like we all think about what it will be like when it is our turn to go but we don't seem to worry all that much about it. However it is an eventual reality we all will have to face. I try not to think about it myself but do admit that it does cross my mind from time to time. I believe we all have some fear and anxiety about death and leaving the ones we love. It is not easy knowing that we will lose the ones we love someday or we will be called and the one's that love us will have to get on with their lives. This has always affected me and it seems that the pain of loss never really goes away. It just gradually gets tucked away in the recesses of our mind and our hearts and we seem to carry on ok but there are moments in our lives where we will be reminded of those we lost and we will certainly feel their spirit and remember them as they were a part of our life. As we remember them we will realize we are far better off for having them in our life.

It all begins with family and we learn the importance of developing relationships and eventual friendships. As we experience life we also meet people in various settings and in some cases we develop friendships along the way. Some brief and others life long. It is a gift to find a friend who we can relate to and express ourselves with. It is very important to have friends and develop a closeness as we learn from our friends and we have a need to be accepted and have companions we get along with and have a bond with. A real friend is someone who will stick by your side at all times and someone who will find the time to listen and lend their support.

As we get older our experiences become greater and our social circles widen. This allows us to develop and grow and to greet new friends in our personal journey of life. It is a mystery on how we evolve and continue and it is something that has been debated and will continue to be debated. No one really knows how our lives become interconnected and how destiny plays a part in who we become. It just seems to happen and we are on the path that takes us to where we are supposed to go. We do have some control but not total control. There is so much uncertainty in life that sometimes we just think about why we are hear and what is it that we are called upon to do and we also wonder about the people who will touch us in our life and the people we will touch. The human condition as we know it is such a broad base but essentially lets us wonder what our life means and allows us to ask why we were born and why we are here. It seems we will go in circles trying to understand because sometimes there are no answers. All I know is that our life does impact others and their lives impact us and we all need to respect that and appreciate all the good that comes from those relationships.

The sad thing about life is knowing that it is not forever and one day that inevitable day for us will come and we hope that all the people who meant something to us will all be reunited and somehow we will know how deeply we affected them and how we were deeply affected by them and we will then understand the true value of family and friendship. It is our family and friends that help us through the difficult moments. It is our faith that makes us stronger and it is our spirit that makes us special.

The friendships we make in life are so important and makes us better and eases our loneliness. We all want to be loved and we want to love and it is so wonderful to know when we touch someone to have them become a friend. I tell my son everyday how nice it is to have a friend you can talk to and have fun with. It makes life so much more enjoyable and we should learn to embrace all our friendships for they make us stronger and also teaches us to be better and more understanding. That truly is what life is all about. We are here to develop as individuals, to contribute, to share, to love, to have family and to touch others. Life is truly special when you have family you care about and friends you share with. My biggest gift in life is knowing how loved I was by my parents and also knowing how much I love my parents, my sisters, my wife and my son.

I hope my son will have the ability to strive to be the best he can and to never give up and to always have love in his heart and family and friends by his side.

Edward D. Iannielli III