At different stages of my life I have been surrounded by my good friends, and then at other times, we are all living in separate parts of the world. I was one of those people who LOVED high school...I was active in sports, student council, social events, etc... I had a large and fun group of friends -- I've known my oldest and dearest friend Danette since sixth grade. But then when I went to college I suddenly found myself in a different situation. I did meet new friends, but it was never the same. They were not GREAT friends. My junior year in college I spent a year oversees in Melbourne, Australia. This is where, as I've told many people, I truly found a missing part of myself. I had a life changing experience and met some great friends along the way, including my friend Allana. "F you, caterpillar man!" But the time came when I had to return to the good ol' USA, I soon graduated from college, took my first job, moved to Portland and found another great friend in Julie...a colleague, but mostly a friend. She and her husband ultimately introduced me to my future husband and life was good. But then life changed. Me and my husband found ourselves on our way to the Midwest...St. Louis. At this point Danette lived in Amarillo, Texas, Allana was a flight attendant for the King of Bahrain -- yeah, I could do a whole post on her and her crazy jobs at another time -- and Julie was in Portland. And I was off to a city where I knew absolutely nobody. Little did I know that would be the place where I would ultimately find the largest concentration of really great friends, and suddenly it was my husband who found himself missing his buddies. I forged great friendships with a number of girls from my work, J-Lay, Cheri, Lauren, Katie...it was wonderful. Things happen and circumstances change...Cheri and I disbanded our relationship and Lauren picked up and followed a boy to Chicago but we are still close. And then, what happened? Yep, you guessed it...things changed. All of a sudden Pat and I were on our way BACK to Oregon and I was yet again leaving my good friends, J-Lay and Katie, behind. What is the deal? The good news was that I was reunited with Julie in Portland. Danette had since relocated to Cape Cod, Mass., Allana was back in Australia and the Midwestern girls still bouncing around St. Louis. But as fate would have it, Julie scored a kick ass job at UofO and she and her family are now in Eugene. I love all of these girls and I love that regardless of distance I know our friendship will never change or go away. Despite being a world away, Allana dropped everything and caught a flight to be in my wedding four years ago...that's friendship. In my most recent issue of Redbook there is a section about 5 Friends to be Happy about Right Now. I could perfectly slot my best friends into these spaces. I'm so thankful to call them my friends even though I don't get to see them on an everyday basis. And after all, things will continue to change and no doubt I will someday find us together in the same city, and meeting new acquaintances along the way.
5 Friends to be Happy About Right Now
Your Number One Fan (she thinks you're hilarious) - Dan
The tell-it-like-it-is Friend - Allana
The Shoulder to Cry On - Julie
Your Complete Opposite - J-Lay
The Fashion Plate - Katie
Love you guys.
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