As we celebrate and honor the importance of friendships in this month’s issue of Natural Awakenings, I’ve been thinking about my own most meaningful and long-lasting friendships. My friend Neta immediately comes to mind. We met when we were 12. I had just started seventh grade in a new school, and within a week, Neta and I had become best friends. Now, more than 30 years later, she’s still one of my dearest, closest friends. As I reminisce about the span of decades, I realize how many life experiences we have shared. We’ve lived both within miles of each other and continents apart as I traveled and moved, but we’ve kept in touch by letters and phone calls, nurturing a strong friendship throughout life’s inevitable transformations.

I feel blessed to have a friend who has always known me and understands my core. She knows my history, my stories and the interwoven tapestry of different periods in my life, as I do hers. We never have to explain baseline background or revisit subsequent narratives. We both experience satisfaction in the way we can deeply and easily share anything and support one another.

Naturally, we’ve had our share of differences, disagreements and even arguments. Yet, we feel comfortable knowing that our loving friendship transcends any conflict. How special it is to be loved unconditionally your whole life by a person outside of your family, one not socially obligated to you in any way. My friend and I live secure in the knowledge that no matter what our lives bring, or where they take us, we will always be there for each other.

One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood. ~Lucius Annaeus Seneca

In this month’s feature article, “The Power of Friendship: It Sustains, Nourishes and Supports Us,” writer Judith Fertig explores how friendships are not only great contributors to happiness but can also improve our health, longevity and overall well-being. My Valentine’s Day wish for all of us is that we consciously raise our good vibrations as we celebrate love in all its forms and take time to honor and acknowledge our most valuable relationships.

Wishing you love and joy,

Gabriella Buchnik, Publisher