BY PAMELA JO BOWMAN – MESA ARIZONA – Have no friends not equal to yourself. — Confucious

After raising three children to adulthood, I am more convinced than ever that it has been their choice of friends that has made all the difference in their lives and mine.

“Mom! You must stop thinking we are so perfect!”

Whatever gave them that impression!?! I know their imperfections more than they. The difference is, I love them wholly and completely. All of them. Maybe their imperfections even more then their perfections. Perhaps that is why parents make the best of friends.

Tonight my daughter was leaving with her friends for a girls’ night out. The boys(friends) sat in my front room and considered staying here without her. I asked them if they were all going to move in when she left for college. We laughed, but they have been such a joy to have in my home, I wouldn’t mind keeping them around.

I examine my choice of friends in comparison. I have done equally well. For the most part my friends are loyal, kind, funny, and a heck of a lot of fun! I find the older I get the more I enjoy my friends. We have less drama between us, but the trust to share the drama outside of us. It is comforting. I feel sorry for those who are unable to enjoy such friendships. How lonely this world would be without a few choice chosen ones to share our moments of triumph and despair.

My children have been fortunate in this regard. I believe their friends are equally fortunate to have them as friends. They are equal to each other.