| Holiday Time is Here |
Holiday Time is Here - Keeping Connections Alive?
As the holidays draw near, I always think about all of my friends around the world. I love opening up my mailbox and getting all the latest photos of my friends and their kids. After all, only through our kids do we realize how time passes. After all, we don't change, do we?!
I am really talking mostly about high school and college friends. How will I contact them? Will I contact them? There are a few years where the time goes by and for all of my good intentions, I still do not manage to stay in touch (my father always used to say, "The road to hell was paved with good intentions"). However, what I love most about the holidays is the reminder that another year has past and it is that time to connect or reconnect. The holidays I love the best are those when I do actually manage to send an email, pick up the phone, or even succeed in sending a small "I'm thinking of you present". I love these connections. They are great not as a pat on the shoulder, to say that "I did it", but simply for the feeling of connecting to so many different people that have entered my life at one point or another. It is exciting to hear about what they are now doing and how their kids are growing up, and even just to let them know that yes, I really am still here.
I have very distinct memories of many of these high school and college friends. They played an important role in my life at various times. When we do get to talk, it is as if time has stood still even though it amazes me to think how we have all aged so. We still laugh at the same things, talk in the same way and feel just as comfortable together now as we did then.
I believe that the friendships one makes in high school or college are like no other. We were all young, full of hopes, dreams and excitement. The bonds were made because of the person we were, not because one made "x" amount of money, or some other superficial reason. What you saw is what you got, and you never needed to think, "why is this person my friend"? These people became my friends because we connected, we loved to laugh, cry, shop, gossip or study together. We went to football games, rode around in a car all night, went to McDonald's for lunch everyday, went out dancing every Friday night, and tasted our first Daiquiri together. My friends were the ones I talked to about my first kiss, about the boy I had a crush on one week, or about the one I never wanted to see again. They were the ones I told all of my dreams and fears to, and the ones I could be with, and didn't need to talk.
Do you ever have moments when you hear that special song from yesteryear that takes you right back to that unique moment, 35 years ago? Wow, what nostalgia can do to you. Thinking back, I realize that I loved all of those moments in my life, that are now only memories, because of the people that made them with me. Many of those moments that I cherish the most are the ones that were made with a good friend. Fast forward the years, I must admit on the other hand that now one of the best things about having grown older is that I can actually say "We have been friends for 40 or 45 years!"
It is odd when I think about it, because if I were to meet today some of these friends from high school or college, we very well might not be friends. But I remain friends with them because I have learnt to accept them the way they are, and we our friendship still continues, hopefully forever. These are the friends I have known for over 40 years and I do not try and change them. As I make new friends, I try to incorporate that wisdom in all my relationships so in another 40 years, I can turn around and say, "We have been friends for over 40 years...."
It is so good to make memories together with a friend!! Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
