A friend and partner, Josh, was reminiscing about a corporate drama we had faced years ago. He and I were not central to the battle, but a close friend was. Because of that friendship we were guilty by association.
The fallout of all this was our friend was frozen out of any real decision making authority, and we were suspect.
As Josh put it, “He was put in the freezer. I was put in the refrigerator.” With a chuckle he continued, “And you were put in the wine cellar.”
I had to laugh at that imagery … it was true, and if you know the whole backstory it was very funny. Our mutual friend was definitely frozen out, and we were in various cold spots ourselves.
There’s nothing new about corporate shenanigans, obviously. Most of those stories are boring. This one is too, plus it’s ancient history, so I won’t delve into it.
But what is unique about this particular story is that years later we were still shaking our heads AND laughing together.
Friendship is like that. We go through good times and are drawn closer together. We go through rocky times and are still drawn closer together, which triggers more good times. Done well the cycles of life spawn deeper and stronger friendships over the years.
My friends are a treasure. I’m still in touch with friends who I met before kindergarten (Greg). Others in the first few years of school (Bob). Married a friend from high school (D’Aun), went to a baseball game with a buddy from college (Steve), and had a prayer time on zoom with a friend I met when we were young parents (Mark).
The list goes on. All of them, every single one, inspires me toward generosity, compassion, and joy.
A few of us have been put in the freezer every now and then, but the nice thing is that even when we’re on the outs we know one of our friends is probably in the wine cellar. It’s just cold, moldy, and dusty enough to make them appreciate our situation, but not so difficult they lose hope.
Quite the opposite – they offer us hope during our frozen times. In the wine cellar there’s plenty of room, a corkscrew, a smile, and lots of reasons to share.
Photo by Julia Volk from Pexels