It’s amazing how talking to old friends, especially ones you haven’t seen in a while, can put everything in your life into a new perspective.
I don’t know if it was the weather or maybe I was sending out some kind of homing signal. Last Wednesday within one hour of each other two people who I haven’t talked to in over a year called me. Both good friends from the past – one I worked with a few years ago when I lived in central Missouri – Nicole, and the other I went to college with -Ryan. We met Nicole for dinner last thursday – it was great to see her and catch up. She and her family kept me sane through a somewhat dark time in my life. Ryan has been in school since he was five. He’s now an anesthesiologist in search of work – he interviewed at a local hospital and should know within two weeks!
I’m typically very bad at keeping in touch with people. Friendships are a two way thing, I realize – it’s not just me, but I should probably be more proactive. Even friends that live near – a good friend who lives north of the river just had his second child and I haven’t even met the first yet! As in introvert, I don’t tend to seek out a lot of people and yet the friendships I make tend to last. I lose touch with people and when we find each other again, it’s like nothing happened.
In visiting with Nicole, she commented that it was great to see me so happy. I know that I’m much happier now than I’ve ever been in my life (all due to my awesome wife), but hearing her say it made it even truer somehow. It gave me a basis for comparison I guess – this is how far I’ve come. It’s also good to hear that she and her family are doing well, as well as the other people in Columbia that I do a terrible job of keeping in touch with.
I guess my point in writing all of this is that I need to quit being quite so solitary. I need people; I need to stay in touch with those that are not near and I need to actually hang out with those that are.
I hear ya!