Fresno Famous

Friendship quote found on INTERNET

Lovely tune to go with the read..........

My dears, yesterday MOI had occasion to have lunch with a chap that has become one of the mates made from living on Calaveras. He does not live on the road, that matters not, our paths crossed and a friendship was begun. It may be of little note to most who come and read this site, but as you are so 'au fait', there is a point, and MOI shares all that happens in the walk through life.

MOI is not blinkered to the possibilities of friendship, there are no hard and fast rules to define what quarter the flower of friendship will come from. Good mates are always hard to come by, more so with the passing years as one finds that it is right hard to make in the later years, than it was in the early ones.

Don't you dare roll eyes! MOI knows that his use of words is a bit dated and some used make one leap back and gasp. Sad it is that some words used to colour folks are tainted by a pre-conceived notion as to their meaning. The lovely man(he is indeed a lovely person) brought to mind this thought by something said at the luncheon table.

We had stuffed our cakeholes with a brilliant salad and were picking at the remains of the bread, no longer warm but delicious. MOI was going on about something and the chap said out of the blue: "We are brothers, 'brothers in Christ'". Taken aback MOI was, as neither the chap or MOI is apt to wear shared religious beliefs on sleeve, both private we are in that regard.

The chap luncheoned with is indeed a multi-layered bloke. He has a brilliant job, family and has many demands made on his time each and every day. Through it all, he finds time to do the things that truly matter. He finds that relaxing in front of the telly is a good way to wind down on most trying days. MOI thinks he should read more oft, and had the cheek to suggest that he discover the delight of reading Charles Dickens, to be exact, 'David Copperfield'. He promises to look into..............

MOI does not know what criteria, you, the dear reader, apply to friendship. MOI has learned from a lifetime of living that at times it can come out of the blue, and be offered by folks one least expects. When first met, this chap struck a cord with MOI and in chatting with, came to see much to be admired and liked. Right, you get the point, MOI has a friend.

MOI would like to share some thought about friendship(was there any doubt that MOI would bang on about the subject?).

Found this on Wikipedia:

During the time of the Roman Empire, Cicero had his own beliefs on friendship. Cicero believed that in order to have a true friendship with someone there must be all honesty and truth. If there isn’t, then this isn’t a true friendship. In that case, friends must be one hundred percent honest with each other and put one hundred percent of their trust in the other person. Cicero also believed that for people to be friends with another person, they must do things without the expectation that their friend will have to repay them. He also believes that if a friend is about to do something wrong, and something that goes against your morals, you shouldn’t compromise your morals. You must explain why what they are going to do is wrong, and help them to see what the right thing to do is, because Cicero believes that ignorance is the cause of evil. Finally the last thing that Cicero believed was that the reason that a friendship comes to an end is because one person in that friendship has become bad.

In the United States, one uses the word' friend' far too loosely. Folks sign up for INTERNET sites ad hope that tens of thousands will appear next to name as friends. MY SPACE and FACEBOOK, spring to mind. Bloody hell, there are folks who email MOI and ask to add as a friend and when looked at profile, there are so many already there. Could fill a telephone book, one could. There is no connection, save the desire on the part of one to add more names to the list. MOI does not do that oft. Is a member of a site for years and has but 51 'friends'.

Much travelled MOI is and has made some very dear mates. Some have lasted a lifetime, some have drifted in and out of life, some have died and others have moved on and MOI has lost contact with. MOI has never had a massive number of mates. Even fewer mates that know MOI to his core. That is just the way of it.

Living in Fresno has been most interesting. Folks are not falling over selves to be best mates with MOI, but there have been some met that MOI has no doubt will be mates for life, where ever MOI may land in the future, mates made here will be long remembered. Calaveras has made mates as well, not fair weather sort, but the type that will be here for a very long time. The road lived on can use all of that sort that come.

What would this post be if MOI did not have a few quotes to share on the subject?

"Always, Sir, set a high value on spontaneous kindness. he whose inclination prompts him to cultivate your friendship of his own accord, will love you more than one whom you have been at pains to attach to you."
- Samuel Johnston (1709 - 1784) British lexicographer

"Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel;
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatch'd, unfledg'd comrade."
- William Shakespeare

A true friend stabs you in the front."
- Oscar Wilde

Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light."
- Helen Keller

"Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend's forehead."
- Chinese Proverb, (sent by Julio Fung)
"May there always be work for your hands to do, may your purse always hold a coin or two. May the sun always shine on your windowpane, may a rainbow be certain to follow each rain. May the hand of a friend always be near you, may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you."
- Irish Blessing

" A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away."
- Arabian Proverb
"The best mirror is an old friend."

My dears, were it not for the 'friends' met in life, MOI would not be who he is. They have enriched my life beyond measure. They continue to make wealthy each and every day lived.

In these hard economic times, when life is so uncertain, one must draw strength from the folks one is honoured to call friends. Friends will support and comfort and always be there for. "In good times and bad..........that is what friends are for." One must cling to that, tightly.

Tune about friendship.............

My dears, MOI has gone on and on..............pray, do indulge..............in times like present, one must always remember what is a constant in one's life. the rest will sort self out.

To one and all who MOI calls 'FRIEND'. Ta!

Disclaimer: It has been many a moon since MOI posted on this site. MOI has always remembered with kind thoughts the lovely folks met here, and with time, hopes that folks have remembered MOI as well.