"Friends are the family we choose for ourselves” ~Edna Buchanan

I was enjoying some time on Facebook the other afternoon and went to “like” a friend’s comment.  When I saw that four others “liked” her statement as well. Well being the nosey gal that I am, I wanted to see what other four folks had great taste too.  Then this window pops up and shows me the other four and that I can “add” them as friends.  Well to my surprise, someone who has been on my friends list for several years was now on the “add” list.  What?  They un-friended me? 

Ok so seriously, how old are we? 

So I looked up on Webster.com the word unfriended, which is actually not yet a word, just facebook lingo.  However, Webster does give a list of words that rhyme with unfriended, such as extended, intended, and pretended.  How appropriate, a true friend is like an extended family member; one that is intended on sticking around through the good, bad and hard times, not one that pretended to be there for you.

So actually I am better off being unfriended by someone that can not be a true blue friend.  I may even be glad that they did not have the courage or character to work things out. In reality, I have a full life and am pretty picky on whom I trust, so knowing that this person, as hurtful as it was, is no longer my “friend” is in retrospect a blessing.

As a parent, I love opportunities to teach my children and will use this to show that true friends call you when they hear a rumor about you.  True friends surprise you with a card when you are sick, happy, hurting, or just because.  True friends are there when you go through tough times with your children, other friends, and family members.  True friends are the family that you pick.  So today, I will let go of the hurtful feelings of being unfriended by a former “friend” and will take away from this experience that I may need to be a little more selective of who I call, friend.