2000-11-21 - 02:20:41

I have been thinking about friends and the meaning of friendship a lot tonight.

It is truly amazing the number of people that grace your life over a period of twenty something years. I remember friends who were in my life for such a short amount of time that if you blinked you could miss it, and the people who have been my anchors.

The worth of my anchors is incredibly obvious to me. Interestingly, the people who I only knew for a short amount of time have been very important too. I have one girlfriend that come to mind immediately when I think of a short term friend.

That would be Polly. Polly was a friend for two weeks during the summer that I was about 10 years old. We played together nearly every day while I was visiting my grandfather. She was one of those people who burned so brightly that everyone who met her wanted to bask in her glow. We promised that we would write each other at least every day and be friends forever in the way that little girls do.

We may even have tried to, I can't really remember.

The next summer when I went to visit my grandfather, I learned to my horror that Polly had died in a tragic accident. I went to her funeral service, and the only thing that I can remember is seeing her mother, bursting into tears and hugging her.

To this day, I think of Polly and I smile. She gave me the gift of being exuberantly myself, of taking joy in every moment. On beautiful days when I have an undeniable urge to skip down the street, I know that is Polly looking down, ready to play with me.

It just awes me that one little girl could have had such a profound effect on my life.

Who has changed your life? Are you still friends?

Next time, with Lucy's permission, I will tell you about her.

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