By Cathy Goedde, Community Voices 

I stumbled onto the last third of “It’s a Wonderful Life” while I was channel-surfing last weekend. At the end of the movie, when George Bailey’s friends have rallied around him, he sees a book on top the money that has been piled up in front of him. It is a gift from his guardian angel, Clarence. There is an inscription in the front of the book that states, “No man is failure who has friends.”

Cathy GoeddeA short time later, I found myself watching an episode of “Sex and the City” and Carrie narrates,” It is so hard to find friends who love you no matter what, and I have three of them.”

I started thinking about friends, family, and the holidays. This is the time of the year when we connect and reconnect with people who are or were a part of our lives. There are those that we see on a daily basis, kids, co-workers, neighbors. There are others that we have met through school, childhood friends, friends from social groups, or from sports, or our kids’ activities. Some are with us briefly, seemingly like they were sent to serve a special purpose. Others may be far away, but never far from our hearts.

It is for me, so comforting to know that there are friends who will always love you, no matter what. There are those that you can tell anything, anything, and they will not roll their eyes and judge you. They will be close by through all of the heartaches, mistakes, and stumbles, as well as the achievements, birthdays, weddings, graduations.

I am so lucky to have people like that in my life. I have my sisters, in St. Louis, especially, Margie, who listens to me rant and rave, and vice versa, at least twice a week. I have my kids, who are always lighting up the world. I have some wonderful neighbors, who watch out for me. I have my college friends, who can continue a conversation that was started two years ago. I have my athletic friends, who have encouraged, coached, yelled, and watched me run, bike, and ski, activities I never thought I could really ever do halfway decently. A couple of them can also turn a Saturday morning run into a major psychotherapy session.

So during this holiday season, reach out to all of these wonderful folks and let them know how much you love them. Enjoy the snow, the Christmas spirit, the friendships, and know that they will always love you, no matter what.

(Cathy Goedde is one of several writers who contribute regularly to “Community Voices.” This column is one of several opinion and commentary pieces that appear regularly in this newspaper.)