My Grandpa Arthur Fabra (DaDa) and his Philosophy on Friends
by Art Wilson
Along the way he met and earned friendships with
Arthur Fabra as a young boy, far right hundreds and hundreds of people, right up to his last days of his life. With a twinkle in his gray sparking eyes, and a consistently good sense of humor, he showed genuine and immediate interest in everyone he met. While he was an interesting person, more importantly, he was interested. People just felt better when they had the opportunity to be around him. And, for those of us who got to be his best friends, we got the special treatment of constant kidding, love and attention. DaDa had about 4 or 5 best friends at any one time, (my grandma, MeMe was always his best) and I think Janet and I were two of the others for the 37 years our lives overlapped with DaDa He must have had a 100 or more from what everyone I have met has said about him. He told us early and frequently how thankful he was for all the friends he had had....... that a person could consider their self very lucky, if, when they died, that they could count the number of good friends on one hand.
But the quote that he told me many several times in commenting on specific friends he had had in his life, that has had the most impact on me personally..... "To have a friend and to be a friend sum up the best in life" Although I am sure I heard this subconsciously when I was younger, the importance of this quote has been magnified as I grow older, as I continue see the value of friendships.
When I look back at the people who became one of my best friends they consistently were people who were sincerely interested in me personally, who showed unconditional love, and who showed unwavering confidence and faith in our potential and future success, many times long before we had any of the above self images of ourselves.
