If friends are the precious stones of life, then I was blessed to have had the Hope Diamond as my most trusted friend.  It was the purest friendship that I have ever had.  It was a friendship based on unconditional comrade love.  It was a friendship that was commissioned from the gates of heaven.

Over the years, I have found that my truest friends are the ones that continued to ride out the storm with me during my worst of times.  They allowed me to lean on them when I could not stand alone.  They never preached at me, they just loved me.  In my opinion, it is easy to be a friend when life is good, exciting, and everything is working like a well oiled machine.  But what happens when mishap or tragedy occurs?  Who has the inner strength to stay around and be the friend that you need?

Although the journey was painful, it was only through the absolute worst of times that I learned the value of true friendship and the profile of a loyal comrade.

My closest comrades know one of my real quirks, and that is I can be a real
hermit.  What is so surprising for most people is that they would never guess that.  I can get back to my farm and not come out into the world for weeks at a time.  It is just me, the bird dogs, the horses, the deer, and a fox once in a while.  There are no audiences waiting for me to sing.  They would never recognize me in my baseball cap, no make-up, and wearing boots and jeans.  For me, my farm is my retreat and safe house.  It is where I recharge.  I can only recharge and listen to what God has to say to me when I can totally clear out my mind and my heart.  I call that "getting the cob webs out".  I share that with you because for me, unless my friends can understand my need for solitude and recharging, they can not truly love me in the fashion that helps me most.