@thesoulful_writer: I lean towards friendships in which we can speak as freely of what is not going well as we do of what deserves celebration. Friendships where a man can say, “Things are difficult,” without first dressing his troubles in humour or hurriedly assuring everyone that he will be fine. There is a particular tenderness in knowing that the table will be set when you have a song, and that your place will still be there when all you bring is silence. We have learnt to gather around happiness. We know what to say when the news is good, when something has finally worked, when a friend has a reason to raise his glass. Yet sometimes, when joy leaves a person for a season, the friendship seems to pause with it. He withdraws because he has nothing cheerful to offer. We stop asking because we no longer know what to say. Slowly, a man begins to feel that he must put his life back together before he can return to the people he loves. I treasure the friendships that allow him to come before then. To arrive with the matter unresolved, to tell the same worry twice, to sit quietly without being mistaken for poor company. Much of that friendship will never be seen. It happens in an unhurried phone call, over a meal that needs no occasion, in the relief of answering honestly when someone asks, “How are you?” I want to belong to friendships like these, and to offer others that same room. If we have shared your laughter, let there also be somewhere among us for your weariness. Come while it is still difficult. You do not have to bring good news to have a place at the table. 📍Ruiru dam

The Soulful_Writer

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Sunday 20 September 2026 11:00:39 GMT