There are times in life when we have to set aside the worries of the world and just take a moment to say thank you. The daily stresses and strains of living in the early 21st Century can wear down the soul of even the toughest amongst us. In the midst of this, there are people who keep you rooted in the reality of proper living. These are people to whom we all owe a great deal.
There are many names for people such as this. The simplest and most easily understood is the category saved for our friends. I will discuss friends first and then move on to the other categories. Friends are those people who care for us, like us, and support us. They know all of our flaws, warts, and imperfections. In spite of these things they continue to interact with us, support us, and encourage us.
Sometimes they labor in the same vineyard as us, like Battalion Chief Joe Ryan of New Jersey. Sometimes their lot is life is to labor in a complimentary field, such as Dominic Colletti of the Hale Corporation. At other times they are people we have met that just seem to have something in their psyche, that strikes a responsive chord within us. Such is the nature of my friendship with Neil Paul of the Hope Lutheran congregation.
It really doesn
