One is silver and the other gold...

Growing up, my mom always encouraged me to have a few close friends you could count on for anything.  I never knew that throughout my teenage years, and even in to my twenties, that would be a challenging task.  You travel through pockets of life surrounded by friends, co-workers, family and sometimes just "people you know" and before you know it, you are not certain who's a close friend and who is just someone sitting in the seat next to you.  You grow up, get married, have kids and those people fade in and out of your life with each stage.  At this point in my life, I'm not up for high school drama - been there, done that and NO thanks - so I keep the ones that I love closest to my heart and treat them like family... and I can count them all on one hand (and one actually IS family).  All of this is fine - I love my friends for who they are and know the feeling is very mutual. 

Around a year ago I was introduced to a group of people from all over the state.  I had shook hands with many of them at various work events and functions and didn't think anything of it really other than some good business relationships.  I joined a committee with some of these people and as we started working together in a more intimate setting, I started to get to KNOW them.  Their spouses, their kids, their weekend plans, stories of their childhood...

This last week I was lucky enough to travel with a few of them to Washington DC for an amazing experience.  Lots of travel time provided the opportunity to get to know each of them more and for this I am so very grateful.  I had the chance to not only better myself and my career, but feel that now I can use two hands to count my closest friends on.

My take away...  make new friends but keep the old ~ one is silver and the other gold.