Real Simple

One of the magazines we get is Real Simple, which is oriented toward women, but contains enough general purpose articles that I find it interesting to read. And I don't linger for an excessive amount of time over the underwear ads.

In the current issue, there's an article about a woman who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had had some radical procedures done during her treatment. The article says that she and her husband were both private people, and not likely to let others know that it was even happening, let alone detail the exact nature of the malady or its current state. But one of the woman's friends happened to be a woman who cheerfully describes herself as an in-your-face person, and that friend, once aware, organized a troupe of friends in the area to act as a support group for the woman undergoing the treatment. The friend arranged for two or three of the troupe to do something every week -- so that some gesture of support and affection was delivered or performed every week over a long period of time, yet none of the troupe felt as if they were being asked to 'do it all', or being asked too often to pitch in.

I admired that. I have never been good at making friends (curiously, I find it easier to make friends with women, not that that ever helped me when faced with The Dating Question), and the idea of having a large number of them, let alone people who are willing and enthusiastic to demonstrate support in a crisis -- well, that just amazes me. I know that other people, possibly even most other people, think little of the ability to make friends, but as for me, its right up there with speaking fluent Mandarin.

Which is to say, apparently possible, but not for me.