Are you a Reason, a Season, or a Lifetime?

Having a chronic disease we need to have the support of our loved ones; our friends and our family.

I'm sure most of us have heard of the anonymous poem called "Are you a Reason, a Season or a Lifetime"? 

The person that is in your life for a REASON is there because you're going through a difficult period in your life. They are there to give you guidance and support, to aid you physically and emotionally. They may seem like they have been sent to you by God and possibly they have.

Then without warning or any wrongdoing, this person walks out of your life. It is not your fault and it's at the most inconvenient time in your life. We must realize that the relationship is over and we must move on.

Some  people come into our lives for a SEASON. Our turn has come to share, laugh and teach others or they may teach us something that we may have never done before. We can share joy like we have never been able to do before, but this is only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; things you must build upon in order to have a solid relationship. Your job, in a relationship, is to accept the lesson, love the person unconditionally. 

The basis of this is that I have been very fortunate to have a wonderful best friend since childhood. She is a LIFETIME relationship that I would never give up for the world. If you've ever seen the movie Beaches http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094715/ 

with Barbara Hershey and Bette Midler, we've said that portrays us. Not that either character looks like us. But that will be us to the end. We have been with each other since 8th grade of middle school. I still remember what she had on the first day she greeted me on the school grounds. She had on kelly green pants, a kelly green and preppy pink stripped sweater with a pink polo shirt under it. 

She now lives on the east coast, but when we talk, we pick up right where we left off. We've been through thick and thin; from our first marriages and divorces, to the birth of our first children and them taking baths together, to our first children having their own children. We've supported each other through some pretty intense stuff through the years and we've been held together through our endeavoring unconditional love for our friendship. 

This doesn't mean we haven't had our ups and downs in our friendship because we have. What this means is that we have found a way to see eye to eye in the very few disagreements we've had. We're very supportive of each other.

I know when I have a problem or when she has a problem she can call me. No matter what we're there for each other.

This brings me to a new LIFETIME friend. I never thought I'd come across another lifetime friend at my age. In the beginning there was a reason for this lifetime friend, but the reason continued and never ended. She too has lupus and we support each other, not just because of lupus but because we have grown to know each other very well. I went to the NYC Lupus for Now Walk with her in May of 2012 and we had a fabulous time. I'm so thrilled that we're friends. Some days I don't know what I'd do without her.  Now we run a Lupus Support group together and I couldn't be more proud to call her my dear friend.

I guess you could say I'm a very fortunate lady who has lupus (otherwise I wouldn't have met my newest LIFETIME friend) and the unconditional love of two LIFETIME friends.