Friendship

A friend said to me in regards to something unspoken of, "we have to keep in touch and know what's going on in our friends' lives..." I understand what she's saying, but everyone also needs to understand that it takes two to keep in touch. Why would I know what's going on in someone's life if they don't tell me themselves? From other people? The friends I keep are not the kind of people who gossip, and that's why I call them friends. I have long detached myself from the people who are prone to gossip, and then try to disguise it as "concern." If someone is hurting they are going to have to show that they are hurting and in need of a friend, or else how would anyone know? If someone always comes off as cheerful, and yet they are dying inside, they can't expect for everyone to just miraculously know what they are going through. I respect privacy, and if they show signs of sorrow or need, I do ask and let them know that I'm there for them. But the next step is for them to take, how much they will let me in, how much they want to share, if at all. I stop there. I don't push, because that's prying. I don't pry. I may ask some questions or say some things to open up the door of conversation in case the person may want an invitation to share, but that's it. Don't mistake my respect for indifference. I am a very compassionate person, who is brought to tears quite easily. I cry when I see others crying. I once knocked on my neighbor's door b/c I could hear him bawling his eyes out. I'd never spoken to this man before, he was a cripple who kept to himself. But it broke my heart to hear him cry. German was with me, he was reluctant to go, but a woman should never go to a strange man's place by herself. So he came with me and it turned out that this man's mom had just died. I pray for my friend. Prayer is powerful, and God knows what she needs and what He wills for her life. She knows that if she needs me I am here. But I won't chase her for information, b/c in my opinion, people who do that aren't really there to care for their friend.