There is a Friend that sticks closer than a brother.

I've been reading a book entitled "Unlikely Friendships." It's about animals who form uncommon bonds.

It brought to mind the movie, Cast Away where Tom Hanks developed a deep attachment for his imaginary friend, "Wilson."

Having been stranded alone for such a long while, it's not hard to understand why he could give a soccer ball a 'personality and talk to it as if it were a true friend.

We need friends!

I remember back to a time when I was only five years old and I was confined in the hospital for about a week due to a bout of pneumonia. Both my parents were working and there were no grandparents in town. The hospital was on the 'other' side of town from where we lived. In other words, the days seemed very long before my Mom or Dad would come to visit.

The thing I recall more than physical pain is the pain of loneliness. Since I was an only child for 8 years, I often recall feeling lonely. Finally, having a sibling didn't alleviate that feeling either because there's too much difference in age to bring much companionship.

To complicate my life, my family moved frequently, though not far, but nonetheless, there was no continuity of familiar neighbors either. Thankfully, I didn't have to change schools except in the 7th grade and again in the 9th when we moved from Lexington, KY to Louisville and then back again.

As an adult looking back, I realize that without proper "bonding" with family or friends, it has kept me from feeling - yes, feeling closely connected on the inside all my life. It's too bad that some memories cannot be 'reformed'. It's not to say that I'm unhappy or haven't been happy. But there's just a sense there could have been something...MORE.

Reading about these little animals, many orphaned, who flourish by being beside even another species, just says to me that which I know: We all need F R I E N D S (and F A M I L Y ). In other words: We need to know that we are loved!!!