"The older the fiddler, the sweeter the tune."-- English Proverb

So, 2 days ago I turned 38 years old. It was a Tuesday, so there was no big hullabaloo surrounding the "event". However, we DID go to the zoo the previous Sunday. It was all I had really wanted to do for my birthday and you can read about THAT experience here.  It was a doozy! 

I guess what they say is true. One does get wiser as they get older. Because I had an epiphany in the past 2 days. You know, when we were younger, all we wanted was to have as many friends as possible and to spend time with them all. That was important. The quantity of the friends we had was of the utmost importance. And as birthday or Christmas gifts, all we wanted was clothes, money, toys, video games, electronics, etc, etc etc!!!! 

And I had all of that. Every birthday and Christmas I had every gift I ever asked for or wanted. I had a plethora of friends too. I thought I had it all! All the friends in the world and all the physical possessions I wanted. 

Today, at 38, I have enough close friends that I can count the number on 1 hand. The rest are acquaintances or, just friends. And that's okay. I'd still hang out with any one of them. But I know that there are just a few that are true friends that I can call at 3am in the morning if something is wrong. Not that I have ever done that! But, I could if I needed to. I don't have a lot of physical possessions either. But I have what I want. More importantly, I have what I need. And I feel richer than I ever did as a teen or young adult. I now know that quality is better than quantity. What good is 100 friends if you can't count on a one of them to be there when you need them? What good is all those possessions if you're just going to tire of them and eventually discard them?

So, when my birthday came and all Tristen and I did was spend the day together lounging around the house, I think that was the best--most meaningful gift of all. He had taken the day off. And we went grocery shopping. Then he cooked dinner for us and we snuggled up watching movies. It was perfect. He kept apologizing that we didn't do more and what we did was exactly what I needed. I just didn't know it at the time. I don't need a lot of gifts or a party with a bunch of people. Yea, those are nice. But I'm beginning to appreciate the REAL meaning of friendship and the simplicity of life. And I like this "new found" simplicity just fine.