"I get by with a little help from my friends...I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends"

Real friendship is shown in times of trouble; prosperity is full of friends. 

                                                                                                                                                    Euripides

My mother always told me "if one has only a few true friends in one's lifetime, one is lucky."  At the time, I did not quite understand what she was trying to explain. Now that I am older and wiser, the meaning is loud and clear!

"My People" have seen me through "thick and thin," literally. They have been there through every conflict and crisis, diet - fad or legitimate, death of loved ones - human or four legged, depression and sadness, layoff and promotion, and celebration and marriage. They are privi to my deepest darkest secrets, my wishes and my wildest dreams; I can be my true, raw, naked self with them and they are still by my side. I think that Ralph Waldo Emerson sums it up nicely "A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud." "It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."

In a past Oprah.com essay "What Are Friends For?" Reverend Ed Bacon uses one of his heros descriptions of friendship as "balcony people" instead of "basement people." "Basement people are those who live in our minds, telling us we will never amount to anything, that we are doomed to fail and that we are royal screwups. Balcony people are those who are consistently cheering us on. "Go for it," they say to our attempts to find our voice, to live in ever widening circles, to dare, to create, to break through our lives' sound barriers." I can completely understand these metaphors; the descriptions make perfect sense.

Barbara
9.26.31 - 4.23.11

For Christmas last year, my sister-in-law Michelle presented me with a book authored by her friend Devi Fournier. the gift exchange is a novel about friendship, "balcony people." The novel's message is a testament of what true friendship entails, neither good nor bad, not simply happy or sad. I explained this once to Barbara, my teacher, my friend and my confidant who recently died from lung cancer. Barbara really liked this description because as she stated, “life is not either-or; it is a combination of all.” Devi’s message helped me to make this connection with my dear friend.

The significance of this book so moved me, I hope all close to me will read this story and understand the true meaning of love and friendship. For those of you that are reading this post and do not have a copy, never fear yours will soon be near.

Devi recently enhanced and expanded her horizons by starting a new endeavor  Love & Peace Notes. Love & Peace Notes is a company offering affirmation-based products that deliver inspiration and affirm life through the written word, allowing for a new level of interacting and relating through spirituality, inspiration and emotion. 

I have had the pleasure of meeting Devi and am lucky to know her; now you can too! Devi has teamed up with Donald Pliner and will be at the Santana Row Boutique on Saturday, May 14, 2011, for a Trunk Show and Book Signing. The event will be from 12:00 noon until 5:00 p.m.                                                                                         In The Best of Oprah's What I know for Sure, Supplement to O The Oprah Magazine, Oprah writes "In all my triumphs - in every good and great thing that has ever happened to me - Gayle has been my boldest cheerleader....Sometimes I feel that Gayle is the better part of myself - the part that says "No matter what, I'm here for you." Gayle is Oprah's "Balcony Person" and Oprah Gayle's. I hope that you too have a few of your own, I know that I do! Celebrate your "Balcony People;" eat, drink, and be merry and still follow your diet with them in good times and in bad.