Friendships "Old & New" - "Silver & gold"

"Make new friends
But keep the old
They are Silver
But these are Gold"

We all know the above saying don't we, I was thinking about it and I'm not sure I agree with the sentiment exactly.

We went away to see friends in Bracknell this weekend, its always quite surreal going back, especially when staying with good friends whose house is directly opposite our old house! Odd drawing the curtains and looking across the road. The kids this time wanted to knock on the door and go & have a look at whether it had changed much, we could see the height of the small conifers we had planted towering up at the back, another sign of how time has passed and things have grown....

...as have my offspring, now 17, 15 and 12; having moved when they were 10, 8 and 5...
But what is so special is that regardless of the years that have passed, and the distance between... is being able to go back and embrace friends as if you'd never been away...

I was pondering those that we have lost over the years and thinking...will it be like that in heaven...just like embracing friends as if we've never been apart....still that love and connection between us despite the years of separation not seeing each other...sometimes to get the heavenly picture...we just need to look at the simple reality that is spelled out here on earth...maybe sometimes we look for too complicated an answer when its right before our eyes.

I guess the only difference, is I can't choose to visit those that are gone, but I can choose to see those that are yet living here on earth....but either way, I am grateful for family & friends, Old and New, those passed and those that remain, in my eyes...unlike the verse above....they are ALL GOLD...

So to all my friends out there....you bring a touch of Gold to my life..whether you are near or far, whether I see you often, rarely or not at all...thank you for being a part of my life.