Now playing in the Theater of the Addled Brain

I posted this a while back in my old blog; spending time with friends I love tonight prompts me to post it again....because if you're fortunate enough to have friends like mine, you can never, ever be too grateful.
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Ever notice something about memories? Some of the best are just snippets -- random, accidental, everyday moments that etch themselves into conscious permanence.

I got thinking about this today as one such moment came back to me, for whatever reason. It was nothing, really. Just the image of a very good friend sitting on a couch in a shaft of late afternoon sunlight -- that red-gold glow that makes life feel so mellow and grand. When that light shines into another person's eyes, it seems to illuminate the soul -- and in that fine moment, I was grateful for the friendship of the person I was peering into.

When I reach for them, I find so many such freeze frames from the past; strung together, they make a movie of a pretty fine life. Oh, there are other dramas, tragedies and comedies in the library of my memory...perhaps happiness depends on which of these mental movies we play for ourselves most often. The players are the proverbial cast of thousands, but not many are extras, so great are their influence.

If you have blessed me with the gift of your friendship, you are a star with a handprint on my sidewalk. I like that.