Thomas Jefferson seemed to be sending me messages this past weekend while I celebrated the bachelorette party of my beautiful friend Lauren Sparrow in Virginia Beach. The weather was perfect, the beach therapeutic, and the company of fun girls refreshing to the spirit. Saturday, we basked in the sun at the Norfolk Waterfront 5th Annual Wine Festival, and it was then that I was reminded of the special bond that thrives only in friendship. As we sipped amazing wine from a Monticello vineyard, I thought a lot about Jefferson, his life in Monticello, and his wisdom. In the sunshine of life on Saturday I wanted to savor every moment of honey crisp taste that was shining into my glass and into my heart. I think that T.J. would have agreed with me, and I think he said the below statement about weekends like the weekend I just had:
But friendship is precious, not only in shade, but in the sunshine of life; and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine. – Thomas Jefferson
Friendship comes in all kinds of different packages, it is up to us to recognize when it is in our midst. J. Donald Walters speaks of friendship in a way that I love: “Happiness is understanding that friendship is more precious than mere things, more precious than getting your own way, more precious than being in situation where true principles are not at stake.” Friendship is precious.
Enjoy the sunshine in your life when it hits you. Let it shine on your shoulders, glisten in your glass, and shower sweetness upon your heart.