Tribute #4 - Fractured Friendships

Tribute #4 is a little different. I'm going to focus here on fractured friendships and what they've done to make me who I am today.
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Fortunately I haven't suffered from too many 'fractured friendships'. I've had several friendships that probably had potential to be special at one time....but due to my own fears about getting close to someone, I pushed them away through all sorts of bad behavior. A 'fractured friendship' would be something more significant than that.....it would be a SPECIAL friendship, a close, meaningful relationship, a person with whom I'd trusted everything with.....and that friendship would be gone for good. I can think of a couple, and while painful, led me to be the friend I am today.

One thing that fractured friendships have NOT done is drive me away from sharing, from baring my heart and soul to those that I love and trust. That close circle of friends that I have still get the pleasure of hearing every happy and every hurt in my life. Fractured friendships have not stopped me from growing and cultivating budding friendships - there are a couple really good ones in my life right now that I'm embracing. Fractured friendships have not made me wary of people.....I know that in order to have a friendship that is meaningful and two-way, that I have to be willing to give, to sometimes take that first big step, to open my heart and invite someone in.

Fractured friendships have made me a BETTER friend. To those that have stood by me, that have loved and cared for me, I've amped up message of my love and caring. Let there NEVER be a doubt where I stand. I learned through a book that every small 'thing' that can come between two friends must be dealt with immediately.....like bricks in the middle, if you don't tend to them and remove them, they start to pile up and can soon become a wall if you're not careful. Fractured friendships took me to that book and gave me some great insights on how to be a better friend. Fractured friendships have taught me to absolutely cherish those women around me that are special - to NEVER take advantage of their time, their kindness or their spirit. Fractured friendships have led me to check and double check that I am always being real and never leading someone to believe that they're something more (or less) to me than they really are. Fractured friendships have taught me to really listen, to really hear what my friends are saying and to care enough to respond.

So...maybe an odd tribute? To look back at friendships that have blown up, people in my life that have turned their back and walked away, and write a tribute to them? Yep. Because without these valleys in my life I wouldn't have grown to be the friend that I hope I am today. Blessings sometimes come through tears.