I have a friend (Marcy) who I knew in junior high & high school, and we've reconnected on facebook. She lives in NorCal but has lived in other parts of the US as well as the world. She posted this link:
When Close Friends Live Far Away (A Request) by Sharon Holbrook
At first, I was scared to read it because I thought I'd cry. Marcy confirmed this by warning me that I would "Ugly cry. Like a Kardashian."
I built up my strength and opened the link. Yes, yes, yes!
Timing for this is even more poignant considering so many friends and family members from Texas are posting "back to school" pictures of their kids. I enjoy these pics (as well as Halloween) pics of kids. I feel like I've watched some grow. For a person that lives on the other side of the world from many close friends, I appreciate the slice of life I get to view through these pictures.
"They say it's hard to make friends once you've grown up, but I've been lucky." True. I have some beautiful, loyal, intelligent friends here in Australia.
"But there are also the friends I left behind" ... "hours of talking-talking-talking (and giggling-giggling-giggling)" ... "These are the girls in all of my snapshots, with whom everything was an adventure" ...
"And, now, there are too few hours with these friends of mine."
My close girlfriends are scattered from California to Texas, Milano Italy to Shreveport Louisiana. These friends that I've traveled with, lived with, cried with, danced with, stood beside them as they got married, talked & talked with them as they got divorced, sat curled up on their couches and drank wine.
I miss these friends. I cherish these friends. I love these friends.
As the link discusses, I'd be happy to sit in their kitchen, watch them make dinner for their kids, and have a day to spend with each of them in their everyday life. When I win the lotto, that's exactly what I'm going to do!
It takes effort to maintain friendships when there is so much physical distance between us. I fail at the effort that needs to be made sometimes. I am fortunate that these friends know I love them, know I support them, and know they are always in my heart.
*I'm not sure how HBO and I have been friends for almost 20 years, yet we have no picture together on facebook (that's where I grabbed all of these today). But...she knows who she is, and she knows I love her.
What do you do to keep these special friends close, even if distance keeps you far?
They
say it’s hard to make friends once you’re a grown-up, but I’ve been
lucky. - See more at:
https://www.scarymommy.com/when-close-friends-live-far-away-a-request/#sthash.je6FALVu.xnioGi6I.dpuf
They
say it’s hard to make friends once you’re a grown-up, but I’ve been
lucky. - See more at:
https://www.scarymommy.com/when-close-friends-live-far-away-a-request/#sthash.je6FALVu.xnioGi6I.dpuf
They
say it’s hard to make friends once you’re a grown-up, but I’ve been
lucky. - See more at:
https://www.scarymommy.com/when-close-friends-live-far-away-a-request/#sthash.je6FALVu.xnioGi6I.dpuf
I need to do better at connecting with my friends. We're scattered, and I'm terrible at staying in touch. And Facebook just makes it worse, honestly. When I can just "like" a picture or drop a quick comment on a post, I tend to forget that I haven't seen my friend in Texas in over a year and that I haven't met her newest baby girl. It's bad.
ReplyDeleteIt can be really tough to maintain long distance relationships but I think it is easier now with technology. Even just a text to say hi can help.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty bad at keeping in touch. But then again, I guess my friends that I've drifted apart from are too. I'm thankful for the friends that are still just as good even if we haven't spoken in a long time!
ReplyDeletei'm not crying. nope.
ReplyDeleteI love this! It's so true ... If you care enough about a friendship, you'll do everything you can to maintain it.
ReplyDeleteI don't live as far from my friends as you do, but I definitely have friends scattered all over the US. This year I've been fortunate enough to have the time and extra money to visit a few of them. (Well, one trip is planned for Labor Day weekend ... So it hasn't happened yet!)
I don't always get to see them, though, so I try to keep in touch any way I can: texts, phone calls, Skype dates, Facebook (though I'm not really a fan), emails, etc. Everyone has different schedules and tons of things going on, so it's not always easy to find a time to talk ... But I'm thankful for the amazing friends I have that make it feel as though no time at all has passed when we do talk or see one another!
The one thing I really struggle with is maintaining friendships, even if we live in Houston it can be hard to see each other sometimes! This pesky thing called work always tends to get in the middle of my travel and friend time!
ReplyDeleteOld friends are the best, they know all the things about you and still love you anyway!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. It gets so hard sometimes just to keep up with friends that are close-by, it's much harder with long distance but with the power of Facebook & other social media, it sometimes feels like you are right there with them every single day. :)
ReplyDeleteLove this post. It is a struggle sometimes maintaining friendships but thankfully technology now helps make it a little easier.
ReplyDeleteLoving all the pics! You all look very close- and happy! I'm not great at keeping in touch, but I do try. With some I'm better than with others. My godson and best friend live in Puerto Rico and I try to visit annually, but sometimes I forget how long it's been since I last spoke to them and others.
ReplyDeleteLove seeing all the pictures of you and your friends. Sometimes it is hard to keep in touch when you are so far away. My best friend and I lived on different continents as well for a while and we tried to skype and write emails as much as possible but of course you always miss each other.
ReplyDelete