Friends...A Notion that Changes

I do not have many friends. My best friend is my husband. Other than him, I have a handful of good friends, and a small handful at that...and many, many acquaintances.  Maybe it's me. Maybe it's the fact that for many people the notion of friendship changes through the years. You are friends with classmates in school, then co-workers, family members, fellow church-goers at times, parents of your children's friends...and the list goes on. Sometimes that makes me sad. I had a best friend. But things change, people change (or maybe they were always a certain way, but , this I have been told and know that it is true. I changed with my divorce. I slowly became the person I was maybe 12 years prior, but a bit more cautious and at the same a bit less worried about others liking me. I am who I am, and I feel like I am a better person now than ever before. But this is judged through various lenses for other people. Did she make poor choices? Does she have a home church? Does she see her kids enough? Why does she get along with her ex-husband's wife? Questions like this I have heard both aloud, and in the thoughts of others.  I have lost close friends from prior to my huge life changes, and again...it makes me sad. But it also makes me stronger. This? This is me. I may not be as pious, as sweet, as outgoing or as agreeable as before.  But I know who I am.