This morning, I took a long walk through the backyard. The cold temperatures and recent snowfalls have transformed summer’s lush gardens into stark and barren worlds. The ground was hard and unforgiving; the landscape stripped down to little more than branches and memories, sparing only the evergreen trees that stood in stark contrast.
I find that winter always has a way of making the sinews of landscapes and humans honest. In both our gardens and our lives, there can be no hiding behind dramatic foliage, boisterous blossoms, or luxurious fragrances; where friendship, like nature, is a study of differences. The ephemeral and the eternal, the dramatic and the quiet, the fleeting and the lasting. Most friendships in our lives will be the former; the annual flowers, brilliant blooms with amazing smells that enrich our lives, but eventually leave us – or depart dramatically – once inclimate weather sets in.
And all that will remain are the evergreens, the perennials.
They are the ones who stay.
Evergreens, the friends who stay, are dependable. They are granite. They offer shade and respite without asking for praise. They root for you when you are the underdog, and help you stand after you stumble, fall, or are knocked down. They weather cold winters, scorching summers, and the chaotic storms of life. They remain steadfast, resilient, and can even survive neglect when you forget to water or nourish them or fail to call.
Still, they remain.
The friends that stay remind us that the deepest truths are often silent, that care can exist without spectacle, that love can be demonstrated by simply standing beside someone while the world collapses around them.
And it is our evergreen friends who teach us the most about friendship: what it means to be a true friend and a keeper and protector of continuity, honesty, faith, and honor. They teach us that some things – like compassion, empathy, love, loyalty – are not measured by how bright they shine, but by how long they endure. And in a world where gardens fail, the evergreens remain, whispering gently: stay rooted. Stay true. Stay present. Stay strong. Stay brave.
This holiday season, please make time to acknowledge your evergreen friends. Honor them. Appreciate them. Let them know how much they enrich your life, and how much you love them.
And most importantly, BE an evergreen friend. Be a perennial. Be the friend who stays.
Have a wonderful week.
Pam
