Finding a good friend is sometimes easier said than done. The long two years of the pandemic haven’t helped, polarizing people with varying opinions on masks and vaccines and gatherings. It can be tempting to pull back and allow yourself to become isolated – but to do so means to lose out on the value of true friendship.
 
If we opt out of the work of building a friendship, we can end up like the guy I encountered in a Southern California park one day. I’ll call him Joe, and Joe had an advantage...

There’s a childhood book I loved to read to my children and now to my grandchildren. It’s “My Little Golden Book About God” by Eloise Wilkin and I pretty much have it memorized. There’s one line I love – 
 
“He gives us memories of yesterdays, so that happy times and people we love we can keep with us always in our hearts. For God is love.”
 
Memories are supposed to be wonderful reminders of people, places, moments. We all have reminders built into our lives to remind us of moments past – the seashell you picked up on the beach, the special ring you wear on your finger – a photo, a favorite place, a song that takes you back.
 
I met a girl on a film set in Hollywood who had tattoos all over her body – Disneyland characters and scenes burned in dark ink on her legs, her arms, her chest. A limb from the talking tree Groot wound down her arm and onto her fingers.