May 18, 2006

Old Friends

Every now and then I am reminded of friends I haven't seen or talked to in a long time. Looking back through past posts made me think of a few. I have more than one "colorful" personality in my life. God has certainly blessed me with entertaining friends. I know that I am (what I like to call ...) quirky - (others may say weird or random or crazy -but in a fun way) and I seem to find myself spending time with other quirky people. On a side note, quirky is a fun word to say. Try working it into at least one conversation a day (that is your assignment for this week).

One of these friends, who I haven't seen in a long time, but was a lot of fun to be around, was Kyle. Kyle taught me two very important things. First, that you must be 10% smarter than the inanimate object you are trying to conquer in order to win. And second, that you can actually point (give points to) people that you don't know for doing stupid or nonsensical things and they will actually go along with you - even keep track of the points you've given. Pointing people is a good way to relieve stress when the people around you seem to know the situation warrants. (On a side note - another friend of mine actually revoked someone's right to speak - and he went along with it!)

Anyway my friend, Andi, calls old friends "comfy old shoes" (you have to scroll down to read the post). There is something about distance - both time and geography that changes a friendship. It either destroys it or seals it into something that will last throughout time. It's funny but usually the most lasting friendships seem to be those that weren't all that close when you lived or spent time together. Ironic - but true. It's as though the more time you spent with a person - in high school, college, whenever - the less likely you are to keep in touch; things just seem to fade. It's as though close, time consumig relationships can't survive a change in schedule, location, or other people. I have found that the friendships I mourn the most are those who still live in the same geography, but no longer are close. Those that went away because we no longer work together, or because other people came between, or because we simply went our separate ways.

And yet, there is a joy and sweetness in the relationships that are "found" when distance and time increase. A peaceful sense of satisfaction when you find you have a friend you didn't realize you had before. And an even more amazing excitement when you find that there are people out there who like spending time with you, not just because they live nearby, work with you, go to church with you, but because they enjoy your personality or something about you so much that they want to keep in touch with you.

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