Skip to main content

I need friends like you to get me through the holidays!

The title if this post is a sentence from a message I got on Facebook this past weekend. One of my high school friends, Nancy, shot this to me after I wished her happy birthday via a wall post.

At best, during high school, Nancy and I were casual friends. She was a cheerleader and hung with her group, and I tried to be a jock and hung with mine. One of my biggest victories in high school came at her expense. We ran against each other for senior class vice president and I won. I was riding a wave of popularity from my role in the junior class play, otherwise Nancy would have probably prevailed. But at the end of the senior year, we graduated and would not be in communication for almost 36 years.

Then came all my "new friends" on Facebook and as many of us were working to get a reunion together this past summer, Scott, one of my classmates from West Virginia, informed me that Nancy's husband had passed away. I immediately put a message on the reunion page on FB to pray for Nancy. She then accepted my friend request and would have been at the reunion, but was in Ohio earlier that month for a wedding and had to be back in Alaska for her job.

Another one of my friends, Rex, was at the reunion. Rex was an equipment manager on the football team and tried to encourage me at times. His older brother, Jeff was, and still is, a classic good guy who took a liking to my younger brother while in school. But back to Rex. He had spent quite a bit of his time in the past few years taking care of his wife as she had been ill for quite some time. He was able to attend our reunion this past July and we even sang Happy Birthday to him. His wife ended her battle a few weeks ago with Rex, their son, and Rex's parents at her side.

Another friend I would like to mention is actually a distant relative. We originally met because we share the same name, Cliff Feightner. I first met Cliff and his wife Lynn in 1990. He was a manager at Goodyear, and I was a salesman at an appliance store. I was told about him and he about me. Cliff then searched me out. Several years later, we started contacting each other by email, which resulted in him coming to one of my family reunions. Lynn brought a chocolate cake and it was delicious. We have kept in contact over the past few years, now mainly by FB. Cliff will also be spending this Christmas without his life mate, as Lynn passed away this year. I'm sure his sons, Chip and Eric, will be there for him this year, but there will be some emptiness.

I'm sure there are many other stories of people who will spend their first holiday season without their partners. I just want to encourage you to reach out and touch those who need a friend this season. It will make a difference.

Comments

Cliff said…
God Bless YOU Cliff. Thank you so much for remembering my dear wife Lynn. This holiday season is indeed empty; my youngest son Erik is my only solace. I really don't know if I can get through this but with family like you, I will try.
Cliff Feightner
@cliffordf2
FlaAuthor.wordpress.com
December 01, 2010 9:13 AM
74WIXYgrad said…
Just remember this Cliff, to have friends you must be a friend. And you were very much a friend and encouragement to me during the 9+ months I was out of a job this year.That meant a lot to me.
December 01, 2010 9:29 AM
Michelle said…
Lovely post, Cliff. I wrote something similar on my blog this week too.

Great friends think alike? ;-)

Love and hugs to you and Kathy
December 02, 2010 6:05 AM
burpsmom said…
I am a blessed person. God gave me the best husband you could ever want. Thank you cliff and I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH. GOD has taken care of us and he always will. as long as we have each other we will be fine
December 06, 2010 4:16 PM
Michelle said…
Wonderful post as always. I'm hoping to be blogging again soon but with no internet at home its difficult and we are still settling in a new state. We had to move to Pennsylvania. When I do come back it will be under a new blog name but I will let you know. Look for a christmas card in the mail. I hope all is well and keep in touch. God Bless!
December 07, 2010 3:46 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Post 800: Time to chat

Hi Guys, It's hard to believe that this is post number 800 for this blog. I started this blog out of my desire to communicate. Since radio and television is becoming more and more automated and less and less personal, I'm glad I made the decision to go in this direction as it has given me many blessings. When I first decided to write my musings, a friend from the radio and television boards who goes by the name of newsnomore, told me not to be discouraged if I didn't get any readers. The fact that I did in the early going made me surprised and grateful that anyone was enjoying what I wrote. I've had people tell me that maybe it wasn't meant for me to ever be in radio, that maybe my calling was blogging. Nowadays I think blogging makes for better two way conversation than terrestrial radio, especially the way I do it, non confrontational. The closest I come from any confrontation is the innocent digs that Pat and I shoot at each other. On an average day I get betwee...
12 comments
Read more

Why?

What I'm posting now is with the blessing of Chelle. Chelle is the cousin of Suzanne's husband, Richard. I had gotten the impression from both of them that they were about as close as sisters. Suzanne had been a friend of mine since I had discovered one of her blogs in July, 2006. We would make reference to each other on our blogs and would have dialogue via email quite a bit. It was no surprise to me that she was friends to many other bloggers as well. I felt it was quite an honor to be held in as high esteem as I was. We even talked to each other on the phone on occasion. I felt as we had known each other for a long time. I also knew that Suzanne was having some personal problems, much of which had to do with a very troubled marriage. I would let her bounce things off me, and I would send her some encouragement. While she was going through some of her marital problems, she made herself available to give me a lift when I needed it. My son was having some problems of his own a...
17 comments
Read more

Bananas and Sleep Apnea

First thing I want to do is welcome all the good folks from Australia who are checking me out as a result of Google searches. I recently wrote a post on sleep apnea , discussing my history with it and my new CPAP machine. Because of this and the name of my blog, this is the top site google lists when somebody types "bananas sleep apnea" into the search line on Google. All of the sites I have seen, that were not the usual sites that come here, ended in "dot au" which I know as Australia. Normally the only hit from down under is by my good friend David McMahon. The reason for the search is that a research team in Australia has found. as a result of a study, that drinking a banana smoothie may assist in easing conditions that cause sleep apnea. Phospholipids, or fatty acids, in bananas stay active in the mouth for six hours and may keep the throat open, therefore reducing the risk of choking. Further studies will expand to those, like myself, who need a breathing machi...
19 comments
Read more