There is no friend like....

There is no friend like an old friend
Who has shared our morning days,
No greeting like his welcome,
No homage like his praise.
Fame is a scentless sunflower
With gaudy crown of gold,
But friendship is the breathing rose
With sweets in every fold. --Anonymous

I am a thrift shop-rummange sale aficionado. I found a framed picture made to look like an old cross-stitched sampler with this brief poem. I love these lines of verse because to me they gives the essence of friendship.

As Janet said in her post yesterday, there is a line where an acquaintance becomes a friend. And then ever after--that person is endowed with a special importance in our lives. What they think about us matters more than what countless others think of us. Their praise means the most. Their disappointment can cut us deeper. What hurts them, hurts us. What makes them happy, makes up happy.

And I love the last two lines because they portray how empowering, yet how private and powerful the effect of true friendship is.