~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~
 |
| Painting by Claudia Tremblay
Reminds me of ~ Di, Kit, Peg **************** "I remember standing at the wide white sink doing dishes while the three girls braided their hair into a single fat rope. Their conversation consisted of one of them telling the other two to hold still, and then another one complaining the others were pulling and would mess everything up. . . . our three girls were firmly tethered together as one daughter" (36 - 37). from Tom Lake ~ by Ann Patchett [See also: FN, KL, QK] |
This Fortnightly post will continue the theme of "Friends in Art" that I was having so much fun with last time! The various paintings have all come to my attention recently, but all of the literary passages below have appeared on previous blog posts -- at least a decade ago. So, it does not seem too soon to re-share these favorite thoughts on the depth and breadth of true friendship.
"And friendship had other charms to captivate my heart.
We could talk and laugh together
and exchange small acts of kindness.
We could join in the pleasure that books can give.
We could be grave or gay together.
If we sometimes disagreed, it was without spite,
as you might differ with yourself,
and the rare occasions of dispute
were the very spice to season our usual accord.
Each of us had something to learn from the others
and something to teach in return.
If any were away, we missed them with regret
and gladly welcomed them when they came home.
Such things as these are heartfelt tokens
of affection between friends.
They are signs to be read on the face and in the eyes,
spoken by the tongue and displayed in countless acts of kindness.
They can kindle a blaze to melt our hearts and weld them into one."
Augustine (354 - 430)
from Confessions, Book 8
"Companion or friend? I have come to believe that you can get along without anyone — that is, without the close contact of any one person. That is a terrible shock to me, but I think it is true. You do need companionship, but wherever you go, in whatever new environment, you will find people who, to a large degree, take the place of those you left. That is, you will find as many contacts, they will become as intimately a part of your life, as friends before.
"If you can get along without friends is it all gone after you leave a person? I don't think so, because when you see them again, or write to them, it all comes back. You can meet and talk with as much intensity and freedom as before, your connection is as strong even though the contact surface is not as great.
"Besides, I think that companionship is a static, objective thing. You can have it with anyone and it is relatively the same, while friendship is subjective and multicolored. There are as many different kinds of friendship (for me, at least) as there are friends. The intimate companionship goes, I think, when you leave a friend, but friendship stays. It is an inherent possibility of relationship that, once admitted — well, there it is."
Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906 - 2001)
from Bring Me A Unicorn, 1972
Drei Winterthurerinnen, 1822
[Three Women from Winterthur, Switzerland]
by David Sulzer (1784 - 1864)
Old Friendship
Beautiful and rich is an old friendship,
Grateful to the touch as ancient ivory,
Smooth as aged wine, or sheen of tapestry
Where light has lingered, intimate and long.
Full of tears and warm is an old friendship
That asks no longer deeds of gallantry,
Or any deed at all - save that the friend shall be
Alive and breathing somewhere, like a song.
Eunice Tietjens (1884 - 1944)
from Leaves in Windy Weather
****************
"None of us are as young as we were.
So what? Friendship never ages."
W. H. Auden (1907 - 73)
****************
"There was a definite process by which
one made people into friends, and it involved
talking and listening to them for hours at a time."
Dame Rebecca West (1892 - 1983)
****************
"The proper office of a friend is to side with you
when you are wrong. Nearly anybody
will side with you when you are right."
Mark Twain (1835 - 1910)
See my QK column: "Built-In Shit Detector"
[right-hand side-bar]
Need to send someone a birthday hug?
For me, this painting by Jennifer Yoswa says it all.
Next Fortnightly Post
Friday, February 14th
Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blog posts
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com
Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com
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