You've Got A Friend.

Today's Marketing Cookie is about best friends.

Aristotle said, "Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies." His words have survived the test of time because it is the truth. When you have a good friendship, you become connected at a higher level. Your joy is multiplied with a friend who celebrates your happy times, and your sorrows are divided with a friend who helps carry your grief.

I remember the very first best friend I ever had. His name is Joe, and I think of him quite often. When I was still in kindergarten, I ran off through the backyard to explore the neighborhood. I went to the next street over, which is where I first met Joe. He was attempting to fly a kite in his side yard. We became fast friends and played together for quite a while, until my mother eventually came to find me. After that day, we grew up together and shared many happy days!

We were in the Boy Scouts together as fearless outdoorsmen. We broke household appliances, determined to invent the next great innovation like Thomas Edison or Benjamin Franklin. We built two amazing tree houses, like master architects of ancient Rome. You really should have seen them. They were very impressive! Believe it or not, one of our tree houses even had a drawbridge and a moat.

We played countless rounds of Risk, Stratego, and chess, trying to oust one another from world domination, like a couple of four-star generals. Some of our legendary Monopoly matches would last for weeks on end, until paying the rent for his Boardwalk had finally depleted my bottom dollar. We even invented our own board game, which to our dismay, Hasbro promptly declined for mass production.

Well, we went to different high schools and eventually attended different colleges. Time, distance, and circumstance established a void between us, and although we've drifted apart, an occasional reunion with Joe always brings me back to those precious wonder years. He was and always will be my very first best friend!

When I saw today's fortune, I immediately thought of that great song by James Taylor, "You've Got a Friend." The chorus goes like this:

You just call out my name,

and you know wherever I am

I'll come running to see you again.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall,

all you have to do is call

and I'll be there, yeah, yeah,

you've got a friend.

That's how it is with friends. If you are feeling alone today... or any day, I encourage you to think about the many friends you've had in your life. Look them up and reach out to them. You may be surprised how your souls have remained connected despite the passing of time. You should know that if you need them, your good friends will always come running to your side, no matter what. As today's fortune says, "You have friends and you know it."