As my son prepares to leave for college, I am maudlin.  He is excited about getting back to Tacoma, seeing his friends again and getting back into school.  I, on the other hand, am stocking up on tissues while working hard to resist the lure of my old friends – comfort foods.  Bittersweet times like this lead to introspection for me.  (I’m beginning to suspect that lots of conditions lead to introspection for me.)  As I sank deeper and deeper into the bitter, a received a heaping dose of sweet when I heard from not one, not two, but FOUR treasured friends of long-standing.  Just knowing they are there will help me walk through these difficult next few days.

Read more in Thursday’s Nashville.com – Friendship and Personal Wealth.