"You've got a friend"

This evening finds me thinking very seriously about friendship. This is a subject I have very often written about and mused over, but it is one that takes different forms as time passes and life changes. I first began thinking of friendship when I woke to find that it was Tuesday. With a sinking feeling, I remembered that one of my oldest and dearest friends was leaving today to spend six months on the Appalachian Trail. I had planned on seeing her this weekend, but developed a nasty cold instead. I then intended to call and wish her well yesterday, but spent the better part of the day in a sleepy, cold-induced stupor. Not expecting an answer, I called the only number I had in order to wish her safe travels and a happy return. Not having talked to her before she left has to be one of the most disheartening things I have experienced in quite some time. It will be six months before I am able to let her know how much she means to me and by that point, explanations will be worthless. A lesson in friendship.

Later in the morning, another old friend called me just to check in. I listened as her son chattered in the background and smiled as I listened to my own child playing happily below. It was just yesterday that ten-year-old me found nine-year-old her crouched at the top of my driveway, shaking off pine needles and striking up a conversation as if she had known me her entire life. Two kids. Now with kids of their own. Yet there's still time for random check-ins, the occasional coffee break, and a listening ear. The conversations and circumstances have changed, but beneath it all are two people who somehow maintained a friendship despite the odds.

In the afternoon, a message came across from a more recent but equally dear friend. From the first real conversation with this individual, our communication was vibrant, forthright, personal, and striking the deepest chords of friendship. She has always had the ability to make me laugh, and some of my fondest memories center around the year we lived together. She is one of my very closest friends despite living in separate time zones, and I walked away from my computer with a smile. I look forward to seeing her soon, and more than that, I look forward to continuing our friendship into years to come.

My last dose of friendship came in the form of another "check-in" phone call from one of my newest family members. After a long span of silence, she became an acquaintance…someone I mentally resolved to get to know better. As circumstances would have it, connections changed, but I was still able (perhaps moreso) to begin developing a friendship with this individual. Connections have once again shifted, but this time I'm guaranteed a chance at securing a life-long friendship. Nothing means more than being able to claim family as friend, and once again, I look forward to many future memories.

Each one of these moments was nothing but a passing moment, but yet the encounters left me with a new sense of the many forms of friendship. Thank you to all of my friends and family who bring love, support, and smiles to every day.