There

The other day one of my old college friends -- call her K for the sake of anonymity here -- called to tell me that our other friend's father -- we'll call her S -- was dying, and probably only had a few days left to live. K's message kicked off the phone chain that we used in college. If something bad happened, we all learned about it from the successive chain of phone calls down the alphabetical list.

I haven't been the best friend to S in recent years. She married a guy I don't really care for and that's put a big strain on our relationship. Not because of anything we've said to each other, but because of what we can't say, don't say and what we know the other person is thinking. I called S and she immediately knew why and picked the phone up after a quick screen (another old college habit). Anyway, we jumped straight into the conversation about her dad as if we spoke every day.

The next day her husband called to tell me that her Dad did in fact pass away, and he asked me to let everyone else know. The funeral is tomorrow. Those of us who are here in town are all going.

While I don't wish the circumstances on anyone at any time, it continually amazes me how when times get tough, good friends always manage to support each other, and to be there for each other. I noticed this after Katrina too. My New Orleans' friends all rallied to help each other, and most importantly to be there for each other. It makes me feel good to know that "there" exists.