They just don't make people the way they used to

My friend K and I were chatting one morning, that must have been months ago now, about friends and how the friends we made way back when seem to be more often than not the ones that stick around. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule but I know that for myself, many of the friends I made in elementary, middle and high school are the ones that have stuck with me. I find as an adult it is a lot more difficult to make and keep friends especially being a stay at home mom I don't have work colleagues to call up and meet for coffee or play dates etc. I've had two very close friends in the last five years; one moved away to the city and got busy with life there so we don't talk much. The other lives down the road.

Her and her husband came to me last Fall about pasturing their horses on our property. We had been looking into that very thing already so it came at a very opportune time. They brought seven horses to stay most of the winter and then again during the summer brought six horses to summer graze. We got to be good friends(or so I thought) and it was enjoyable having them over for dinners and birthdays and when my husband was home the men would go and work together on a bit of fencing here and there, drink beer and coffee and have a good time. I believe that there is a saying about not mixing business with pleasure. Its a good saying. I didn't see the problem until it was too late which is very unfortunate for us. Being neighbors and friends I thought that a trade would be the best form of 'payment' for the pasture and we had discussed the trade of one of their bulls. The husband didn't think that was a fair trade for him. So after lots of discussion between myself and 'her' it became apparent that we were going to have to think of something else. So we went and bought our own bull- Sir Loin.

I believe there is another saying that you can't put a price on friendship. Maybe there's not, maybe I made that up but that is exactly what the couple did. They sent us a bill for friendship- a $700 bill to be exact. Every little thing they did during our friendship, they billed us for. Every time he came over for dinner and then a bit of fencing, he billed it. Every little thing. Right down to her saying I owed her for picking my daughter up sick from school when I didn't have a vehicle. I offered her $20 at the time which she refused to take saying, "that's what friends do. I might need you to pick me up one day." Never mind that I gave her all the clothes my kids had outgrown or had them over for dinner on numerous occasions or took my rototiller to their house and did their garden for them. Would I ever dream of sending them a bill for those things? Absolutely not!

So basically, we aren't getting anything for pasturing their horses because our friendship came at too high a cost.

Thank you to my real friends for being made the way people are supposed to be made- loving, caring and honest. And thanks to my friend K for the title of this post!