True Friends

So my organization is affecting my friendships......what of it?   Simply put, I don't have that many friends and I treasure the ones I have, even if I don't see them very often or talk on the phone often.  My focus for the last 20 years has been my husband, kids and work.  I have memorized the one friend's number I call frequently...but even  then I have accidently called my mother instead of her!  My families numbers are all on the frig but not in my "new" cell phone I got over a year ago.  I have to admit my previous phone had everyone's number in it and I neglected (due to lack of organization) to transfer the numbers out before getting a new one.  I only memorized my daughter Krista's because they got rid of the house number I had memorized and I didn't have the cell on speed dial anymore.  So anyway, I have wanted to stop by this friends house numerous times over the last year but never put her number in the cell phone...so when I was in town I didn't want to just drop in.  She's given me the number at least 5 times and I'm sure it's in my address book (wherever that is!) and it's in my facebook messages (but since I don't have a data phone I can't access that on the go).  This week I really felt like I had to stop by and see her as I drove through where she lived.  So, not only do I not have a number to warn her so she doesn't answer the door, I'm driving up and down at least 3 streets trying to remember where the house is.   What kind of friend am I that I haven't been there in over 10 years????  Sheesh!  Life rushes by you before you even realize it.  Anyway, I finally went down the street that I started with but had turned around right before her house...duh!  Thankfully she's the kind of friend who gracefully let me come in and talk with her and stick my foot in my mouth several times.  That's the thing about a true friend.  They don't just let you stick your foot in your mouth unknowingly and hurt their feelings without knowing it.  She so good at letting me know when I'm off and when I've said something that I didn't mean to hurt but did.   I really appreciate having a friend like that.  Sometimes we really want to help our friends but what to us seems like encouragement is actually a stab to the gut for them.  I would never knowingly want to hurt any of my friends or family but yet I am sure I do frequently.....sometimes just for the lack of knowing what to say!  It is ok just to sit there and not know what to say, to not have to just fill in the silence.  It's hard to understand friends hurts when you have never been where they are. Instead of being afraid to spend time with them because I don't know what to say, I'm glad I have friends who will tell me when I'm way off but still appreciate that I'm trying in the best way I know to say "I care!"