It’s interesting how situations in life can change the relationships in your life simultaneously. Uncontrollable circumstances that force life to take a new direction usually have some sort of affect on friendships.
My first experience with this was during my freshman year in high school. One of my best friends moved from our tiny town to St. Louis, Mo. I was crushed; worried I’d never see her again. For a few years we would take turns visiting the other. But eventually we both became involved in new things, developed new friendships and before I knew it, it had been six months since we last saw each other. Six months turned into a year and a year turned into, well, years.
Then came graduation from high school, saying goodbye to the friends I had since preschool and swearing we wouldn’t lose touch. Today, I talk to a handful of people out of my graduating class of 42 students. But life took us in different directions; some stayed home and got married, others went on to college and the remainder moved as far away as possible.
Strange thinking how I spent 13 years around these people and now I couldn’t even begin to tell you where most of them live or what they are doing. Sad but it’s a part of life.
College was a little bit different for me. Starting over and making all new friends, but this time making friends was different. We weren’t brought together simply because of geographical location. We were brought together based on interest and life goals. My best friends in college all had some sort of agricultural interest, either having grown up on farms and wanting to return or wanting to graduate and work for an agricultural based company.
I would say that after graduating college, I talk to twice as many people I met there as I do people from high school. It’s not because they had any more of an impact on my life but because our lives are headed in the same direction.
Recently, I was reminded that it’s not just through “school years” that your life changes and so do the people involved in your life.
When I was growing up we spent a lot of time at the Kelm’s house. The Kelms are friends of my parents. I have so many memories of visiting, playing with their four kids while terrorizing through the house. But because of divorce and their kids growing up, getting married and moving away it has been over 10 years since I’d seen any of them.
A few weekends ago the Kelm family all reunited near Bennett Spring for Kenny’s 60th birthday party and after 10 years they invited our family to come. It was so nice seeing everyone, meeting their kids and hearing about where life has taken them.
Sometimes the deviation of friendships is simply because of life changes, not because you don’t care about those people anymore. That is apparent after seeing my parents reconnect with their long lost friends. There are definitely some friendships that time or space can’t ruin.
Best wishes,
