Friendship Day was started by Hallmark back in 1919. Seeking a way to capitalize on the relationships between people who weren’t necessarily related, the holiday bombed. By the 1940s it had become a moot point. No one had ever heard of the day by the time the 1960s rolled around.
Friendship Day Becomes Popular
Winnie the Pooh—yes, the beloved animated bear who graced your childhood bedtime stories—is responsible for a resurgence of Friendship Day. Named the World’s Friendship Ambassador by the United Nations in 1998, he reinstated Friendship Day in 2011.
The United Nations deemed July 30th as International Friendship Day, although in most countries—including the United States—Friendship Day falls on the first Sunday in August.
How to Celebrate
Celebrating Friendship Day is easy—or at least it should be. Spending time with your friend or friends is the best way to celebrate. Some good options for celebrating if your nearest and dearest friends live far away, sending them a card with a heartfelt handwritten note inside or some flowers.
Gift certificates are favorites of almost everyone—especially those with little to no room for gadgets and knickknacks in their homes. Surely you know of something your friend would like or even perhaps needs. Is he or she an overworked, underpaid parent? Consider a gift certificate for a maid service. Who wouldn’t love to have their house cleaned? Imagine the joy your friend will experience when you present her or him with a gift certificate for a free house cleaning with a professional maid service? The solidity of your friendship will definitely ring true, because for Friendship Day you knew exactly what your dear friend needed most.
Other gift certificates for your friend or friends might include one for a homemade meal, delivered on a designated day. Your friend might enjoy a special dessert that you make. You might consider presenting him or her with a gift certificate to cash in for the dessert—delivered.
It’s Not So Much About the Gifts
Of course the real meaning behind Friendship Day has little to do with gift giving, and much more to do with appreciating and honoring those friendships we’ve come to rely upon and truly enjoy. What better way to say, “You are important to me,” than by spending time with your friend.
Trying to set aside time on Friendship Day might be difficult. After all, you and your friend no doubt have families, work, and other responsibilities to tend to on a regular basis. If you can’t actually meet on the holiday itself, trying to schedule some time together earlier that weekend or a day or two later works, too.
It’s important when celebrating Friendship Day with one or more special friends to let them know exactly what it is that makes them so important to you. Maybe your friend always makes time to listen when you’re feeling down. Perhaps he or she is known for lending a hand when it’s most needed, and seeming to know exactly when that is. Make sure he or she understands just how much that means to you.
Special Quotes Honoring Friendship
If you don’t opt for buying a card for your friend on this Friendship Day (yes, Hallmark has once again jumped on the bandwagon!) you might consider making one of your own. Handmade cards speak volumes. They say, “You mean enough that I took time to create something extra special for you.”
While it’s always important to add your personal sentiment on any card—whether it’s purchased or handmade—there are some quotes about friendship that will help your sentiments flow. See if one of these might lend its sentiments to your feelings about your special friend or friends.
“Anyone can sympathize with the sufferings of a friend, but it takes a very fine nature to sympathize with a friend’s success.” Oscar Wilde
Does that one hit home with you? Sure, it’s easy to encourage our friend when he or she is in need, but are you the kind of friend who celebrates when something incredibly good happens to him or her? That’s definitely the mark of true friendship. If you have this kind of friend, make sure to let him or her know just how much that quality means.
“Two may talk together under the same roof for many years, yet never really meet; and two others at first speech are old friends.” Mary Catherwood
Have you ever met someone and known immediately that you really liked that person? Did you feel like you’d already know them for years? This again, is the mark of a very good friend or what will no doubt become a great friendship.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art. It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that gives value to survival.” C.S. Lewis
Sure, we will live without our friends, but living with them makes life so much better. Cherish your friends every day. We never know how long they will be here to grace our lives.
On Friendship Day, find a special way to honor your dearest friend or friends. This is something that will benefit all parties involved. While there is always joy in receiving, there is so much more in giving. Our friends are worthy of our gifts, be it a gift certificate for maid service or just spending time together. Either way, show them they matter to you!
As Friendship Ambassador Winnie the Pooh once said, “If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.” Celebrate your friends.
Read the post Pet Friendly House Cleaning.