Gifts of friendship

"Our friends are gifts we give ourselves
by being friends and the most precious
gifts we give them are our time and talents."

Throughout our life we create a circle of friends around us and Saturday's wedding was a case in point. What was so lovely to see was the ways friends of the bride and Groom gave their gifts of friendship - gifts of their time and talents.


One friend played 'Amazing Grace' on the bagpipes to herald the beginning of the ceremony as the bridal party made their entrance. Three other friends came along especially to present an entertaining item at the end of the ceremony and then all left after sharing a short while with the couple and those present. Various friends shared readings, as I mentioned in my blog yesterday and others shared stories and made toasts to the happy couple. 


Many of those present had special cards of appreciation given by the Bride and Groom, for the gifts of friendship shared and given across the years, or especially, for the wedding. And each of these gifts given and received were gifts from the heart, given with love to show how much we all cared. 


Today I shared time with two special friends when we went to see 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' and we loved it and certainly recommend going and see it. Sharing such time with my friends is really precious to me because we are making the time to do something special together and in doing we 'gift ' each other. We are enjoying the moment through the gift of our friendship given and received.


There is a saying I came across - author unknown - that sums it up perfectly - 'remember, that the greatest gift is not found in a store or under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends.' 


As does this one by Maya Angelou 'since time is the one immaterial object which we can cannot influence-neither speed up or slow down, add to or diminish - it is an imponderably valuable gift.'

Spending time with my dearest friend, Kathy, from schooldays
in England, when she came to New Zealand 
was one of my most precious 'gifts' of our friendship

What we sometimes forget is that each moment of each day has the potential for such gifts to be given and received in so many diverse ways.


As Marcus Aurelius said - 'each day provides it's own gift.'  All we have to do is appreciate how important they are.