Friendship- again

When I was moving here 2 years ago I found myself reflecting and therefore blogging quite a bit about friendship. Then I seem to remem80ber that last year as the 2nd years prepared to leave I blogged again! now its my time to leave and it has me thinking again about the nature of friendship. When I looked at our Christmas card list it numbers 80+ , I culled that number to 40 to send Ember cards inviting friends and family to the cathedral and after party, while sending one to everyone in college. However I sent those and 20 of the friends ones by email to save on paper and postage. But it got me thinking about who we call our freinds and how we assess our friends for different events etc in our lives. I have friends all over the country- and even a few abroad. Some of my friends go back to my school days, others are recent friends made while here at college. But one thing I've learnt over the years is that good friends are there when ever you need them. When I found out about my first husbands affair, the friend I turned to was an old college friend who I hadn't seen for about 4 years but who I had kept in touch with.I have friends I made after that through a divorce support group who we'll be meeting up with this weekend- 10 years after first meeting. These days we don't see each other very often but the friendship is still important to us all. Today I spent a few hours with a friend from college who left last summer, She lives on the south coast and I shall be living in Derbyshire but we will still keep in touch and meet up when we can- knowing that we will be able to empathise and support each other in this ministry to which we have been called. but on earth two people are extrmeely special friends- they are my husband and my sister. Yet how aoften do I tell them how special they are? Something to ponder and work on!