You can be friends with anyone

I've heard so many people say this - "that's not the kind of person I would normally be friends with." My wife even says this from time to time, although to her great credit, it has never once stopped her. :-)

I am kind of an expert on this. As an introvert by nature who was once bullied by, well, just about every kid at school (until I turned fifteen and shot up to six feet two), I was once the kind of person who did not make friends with anyone. I was painfully shy.

But you can make friends with anyone. Granted, it is not advisable in the case of tyrannical despots or serial killers, but as far as everyone else goes, we are all a lot alike. Sure our hobbies, activities, and bad habits are all different. But we all have hobbies, activities, and bad habits! ;-)

Other than my wife, I think my closest pal right now is my brother in law. Our natural interests are quite different by and by. I read lots of books about science, computers, philosophy, and theology. He reads fantasy pulp novels, product manuals and cottage journals. The outdoors for me was always about skiing. For him, he goes outdoors to get work done, and to see the world by snowmobile.

But we spend a lot of time together – working on the kitchen for my departed sister in law, cutting and splitting wood, lots of outdoor chores. None of these are activities that I would normally choose to do, but that is not important. What is important is being there in those few passing moments when a person becomes fully alive – the flash of wonder that crosses my brother in law's eyes when a snowshoe rabbit comes out of the woods right in front of us, or the way my wife's jaw drops as we see the first towering cliff on the Cabot trail.

It doesn't matter if you macrame, and your friend makes model airplanes. We have our humanity in common. And quite truly, that, I tell you, is enough.