Of Friends- Justine Dyikuk

Morning friends are also called sunrise or breakfast friends.  Often, they spice up your life – they bring sunshine to your life. You would be glad you had them. Like tea, their steam evaporates your life to the envy of all.  Morning friends are always at the breakfast table of your life – as a very curious set of creatures, they are quick to browse through the menu of your life in terms of lunch and dinner to ascertain if your life is going to be promising or not. These are often childhood friends. You have the right to choose your morning friends.

You would be crazy if you expect them for so long at the tea-break of your life. You know what? If the list of your cuisine isn’t inviting enough, they would long be gone. The initial joy and pleasantries you once enjoyed suddenly vanishes. Many a person would be left heart-broken but we forget that sunrise doesn’t last forever. Such friends by nature only nurture you to maturity. When next you’re shopping for friends, have a recipe but don’t forget that breakfast prepares you for a solid meal – lunch.
Afternoon or sunshine friends meet you half way through life. They may not have been there from your childhood. They may not have known your history or pedigree. Often, they don’t care whom you’ve parleyed with in the past. Just when a former friend has messed you up, they appear like an angel to heal your wounds and clean you up. Sometimes you wonder were God kept them all this while.
They appear unassuming yet indispensable. Being with them erases the pains of past hurts. It is friends like these that sustain you through life. If you are lucky, they might pass for a permanent life-partner. Afternoon friends are the canopy for the scourging sun of mid-life crisis. The choice of afternoon friends is either made by you, them or both. The trouble with afternoon friends is that they may not be there with you to the end. Don’t ask me why!
Evening friends are people you may never meet in life but whose sacrifices towards you and yours, you may never repay. Life the shadow of the evening, evening friends are mysterious. These are people who may never have known you but would decide to pay your bills. When you are involved in an accident, your morning or afternoon friends may not be there. Those who would come to your rescue are evening friends.
The nurse, doctor, mortician, undertakers or priest at your funeral are all evening friends. Many would contribute to your funeral and even attend it who may never have met you while you lived. While you may choose your afternoon friends, you may never choose your evening friends – they are chosen by circumstances to teach us great lessons.
We often get excited about our morning friends but no sooner had we celebrated them than they leave us high and dry. Our afternoon friends may be large-hearted but when life becomes tough and you are on the brink of the grave, they may be nowhere. Search your friends to know where they belong – but only after you have done a soul-searching exercise to ascertain which kind of friend you are to others. Have a great week ahead!