It started with the Amish Friendship Bread. Everyone I know has mashed, babied and baked this bread countless times. But not me. My cousin got some from one of her students for Christmas and decided to share the love while she was home over Christmas break. So I have been mashing, babying and baking this bread for the last month.

For the uninitiated, Amish Friendship Bread is really cinnamon cake that takes 10 days to prepare. To begin at the beginning, it starts with a starter that someone gives you. Every day you follow the instructions, either adding items or mashing the bag. Finally on the 10th day, you make the cake and create 3 extra bags of starter to give away. Since I am me, I can’t just make the plain recipe. I have been concocting and make a sweet potato version that is to die for and a lemon poppy seed one that is pretty fabulous.

Several of my other cousins are making this bread as well. One of them said that she must only have 4 friends because that is all of the starter she has been able to give away. That got me thinking…I guess I have 2 friends then. Because that is all of the starter that I have given away. Don’t even ask me how many starters I have going at my house right now! And with everything else going on in my life, I started to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have any friends. Poor me.

But then last Friday, I wrote a post about hope in the midst of hopelessness. I had some comments on the post. Other people texted, called or emailed to check on me. And I realized that I don’t have many “typical” best friends - ones who live down the street and you see on a daily basis. But I have so many other connections that make up for it.

Family - my parents, siblings, niece/nephews, aunts/uncles & cousins who love me

Telephone friends like Wallyce - who listen to this East Coast girl pour out her heart while on the West Coast (and who let me visit her in LA)

Lunch buddies like Cheryl - who encourage me about my writing (and has promised to buy the 1st copy of my 1st book)

Busy moms like Jeanne - who keep me sane while keeping up with eight little children on Wednesday nights, allow their own children to love me, and let me stay at their house talking for hours after I finish babysitting

Blog buddies from afar like Dawn, Jana and Lindsey - who let me glimpse into their lives on a daily and weekly basis

New blog buddies like Shari and Jessica - fellow redheads who actually live only an hour away, so I get to meet them later this month

Young CPA friends like Scott- who write poems for the Sweet Potato Queen and email to remind me that I am a tough nut to crack and I will make it

Church companions like David and Jean Kelly - who faithfully read and laugh and share my writing with others (which means the world to me)

Once I started to list all of them out, and believe me this isn’t the whole list, it made me feel like the end of Follow That Bird. Miss Finch took Big Bird away from Sesame Street because there weren’t any other birds of his own kind. After a long hard journey, he finally makes it back home where Maria points out that while there aren’t any other “big” birds, they do have people, grouches, a snuffleupagus, other birds, kids and frogs. I think I will take variety any day.

So I guess it really did take Amish Friendship Bread to make me realize how many friends I do have.