Gold by Rosemary Hurwitz

GOLD          by Rosemary Hurwitz

Gold or silver, it doesn’t matter, I can’t live without friendship. The adage, “make new friends, keep the old, one is silver and the other gold,” may be true, and I’d like to add my own truism, “that a marriage without friends can get dull and boring.”

Please don’t get me wrong.  I love my husband of twenty eight years deeply.  We share lots of common interests.  We laugh and talk and “get each other.” We have a wonderful physical attraction, which after four kids and all these years, I am very grateful for. 

Our friends though, individual ones and couple ones, bring us alive when we feel dull or “familied out.” Sorry, but there is a healthy balance and if more people knew this I am betting there would be happier families.

Like good cardio exercise, our small gatherings or large parties get our heart pumping.

We clean and decorate the house and prepare special dishes for our friends.  Running out for that last minute bouquet to welcome them is fun too.  I love it all- preparing for their  arrival, then actually having them over  and the next-day-good-all-over feeling because you opened your home.

  I like to go to other people’s houses too, seeing how they prepare for you, with all of their special touches, and their family’s style which shows all over their home. Whether going to their home or having them to ours, I always like it when there is a sharing of special dishes. Whether they are homeade or not, it is fun to see what people like to bring. With our friends, it is most often a sort of pot luck with a main fare planned by the hosts, and it certainly is a practical way to entertain each other.

One thing I like about our friends is they don’t just sit around; whether it’s sharing dinners, cards, boating, tennis, paddle, movies, ping pong or song, friends make our hearts glad all year long.

We share sad times too, and bring flowers when a parent dies.  We cry on each others shoulders when a parent gets ill  or when raising a family gets tough-a teenager fights with us, our 6^th grader feels left out, or our daughter or son leaves for college.

The guys bond over work, football or fishing and yes the ladies support their friend’s home parties from jewelry to decorating with home accessories to the latest craze-selling your old and broken down gold-even an odd earring will do. 

When our college son sells knives during a tough economy, we tell him it’s ok to call our friends, and hope we can support their kids in a similar way.

Friends warm our hearts all year long, and at holiday time, they are the real gold under the Christmas tree, or silver, as the case may be.