Rules for Visiting

by Jessica Francis Kane

She was very opinionated, but everyone seemed to agree that the opinions were well informed, insightful, and usually for the benefit of someone else’s problem.

Are we friends or just two people whose paths crossed in childhood, when bonds are more easily formed?

Many scientists believe trees can befriend each other, intertwining their roots to share resources and bending their branches to make sure each gets enough sun. Some think that a pair can become so close that when one of the trees dies, the other one dies, too.

Beowulf is a violent epic about the dangers of being friendless. There’s a party, the misfit is not invited, he sulks outside, then comes in, wreaks havoc, and is killed.

Yet spending time with friends is the first thing we drop when life gets busy.

A house becomes a home when a person or a group of people has an emotional attachment to it. A house is a physical thing that is built with wood and bricks, furnished with furniture and carpets, while a home takes time and is built with memories.