Thinking about friendships lately. We have friends scattered all over the globe. One of the pluses of moving so much is meeting new people and making new friends. One of the minuses of moving so much is some friendships don’t make the transition. Well, let’s face it. It doesn’t take a move to have friendships change.
We’ve probably all had those friendships that at one point are such a huge part of your life that you can’t imagine that person not being in your life. You just assume that the friendship will always be as important and as big a part of your life forever. But then life takes a turn. Sometimes for reasons we will never know that friendship that was such a huge part of your everyday life is not there anymore. There are some of those that we long to get back even if we know it won’t be the same. And there are some that we just accept are no longer a part of our lives. We may miss them but we know that too much has changed.
There are friends that are constantly in touch. Whether it is a text message or a phone call. They reach out to just say, “Hi, how’s your day going?” I love to send greeting cards. And I also love to get them. Texts are great and that is the way of the world these days but if someone takes the time to send a card via snail mail…that just makes my day.
Friendships take two. Two people interested in each other’s lives. During the highs, the lows and the every days. We all get busy and there are times that our own lives are just too crazy to engage a lot with other people. It happens to all of us and we all do it. You have good intentions of calling that friend or of sending a quick text or replying to their email. Sometimes friendships feel very one-sided. One of you keeps reaching out but the other doesn’t. Have you ever felt like just saying, “what’s the point?” and stop reaching out? Me too. There are some friendships that won’t last forever. When your lives are not as connected anymore then it changes the dynamics. We will miss some of these and others we know that there is nothing we can do to change it. There are friendships that happen only because of the circumstances at that time. They come into your life at a particular time and then are gone.
I’ve also been thinking about those life-long friends. The ones that you’ve known forever. The ones that may live far away. The ones you may not be in touch with on a regular basis. Then a phone call, a text, a card out of the blue or a message on Facebook and you pick up right where you left off. Like not a minute has passed since you last spoke.
I know that being so far away from friends in the States means that some friendships will fade away. It will take a bit of effort on both sides to stay in contact. I just hope that we will all make that effort.
The Winery Woman 