A Friend

"But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine." ~Thomas Jefferson

A friend from high school sent the following to me and found it a great way to start the week. Eric and I haven't probably seen each other since graduation in 1978. A long time to pass between folks, but great to know each is doing well. But onto the subject of friends and first the story.

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A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble... At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered.. 'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up. 'The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked.

'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'

'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.

'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

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The story gives us one view to what friendship means.  That you would not leave them behind.  And we get faced with these types of decisions in our life.  Sometimes your hand is forced to leave a good friend behind should that person be pulling you down in life.  But you can always pull a friend up in life.  Its a choice that can be rather difficult to make.

In the email string that contained the story above also spoke to why someone would forward these stories.

- When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You forward jokes.

- When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.
- When you have something to say, but don't know what and don't know how, you forward jokes.

Of course there are lots of reasons, but keeping in touch can mean so much.  A simple hello, a quick 'thinking of you' or touching base with someone can lift them at a moment when you least expect.

So keep hold of your friends, try to keep them in your life as each of your journeys unfold.