Reflections on Friendship
by David and Faye Wetherow
Reflections on Friendship
What steps can we take to invite and support real friendships for our sons and daughters who live with disabilities? We sometimes see other children moving along in a sea of friendship, and we see our children struggling with isolation. The natural ebb and flow of play, enjoyment and affection may seem out of reach, and we worry about the possibility of a life-long pattern of separateness. What can we do?
To begin, I’m not sure that I know anything about ‘making’ friends. The older I get, the more I think that we discover each other. Then if we're lucky, pay attention, stay faithful, and don't mess up, we have a friend for life.
We hope that our children who live with disabilities will receive the blessings of friendship. As we seek that blessing, it may be useful to examine how the ordinary patterns of discovery and friendship work, and see if we can follow those patterns, but perhaps in a way that is more focused and intentional.
How did our most important friendships come into being? Where were we when we discovered each other? Among the dozens, hundreds, even thousands of people we've met in our lifetimes, how is it that some of us are still friends ‘after all these years’?
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