Grateful For Friends

Yesterday we skipped a memorial dinner honoring an aunt who recently past away. Had we attended that memorial service it would have been our fourth service in less than two months, it would have been our second memorial service this week. But we chose not to go, not because we didn’t want to be there and celebrate the life of that particular loved one, but because we had to make a choice, between spending the afternoon celebrating and honoring the deceased, or spending the afternoon catching up with a very dear friend whom we don’t often get to see, due to the 800 plus miles that normally lie between us. 

Obviously we chose the latter and for that I am grateful. We had a blast catching up with our old college friend and getting to know his new girlfriend along with some of his childhood buddies. Our two boys spent the afternoon swimming in an oversized multi-level pool with it’s own built in slide. I could hardly keep them out of the pool long enough to get some food in their tummies. While they swam and played with other children around their age, we spent the afternoon catching up with our friend and his buddies reminiscing about the good old days and listening to 90’s hits of our era.

I think because we are all so wrapped up in our own lives, and for myself so much effort is spent just trying to stay afloat, in this parenting game, I forget or put off keeping in touch with my good friends and even family. Which truly is a shame. I have and always have had wonderful friends, people that have supported me, guided me and cheered me on all throughout my teens, twenties and now thirties. It was this visit that made me recognize just how lucky I am to have the group of friends that I have. It also made me feel bad for not being a better friend in return. I can’t remember the last time I initiated some sort of contact with whom I consider to be my truest friends. 

Now I’m sure some of this realization also stems from all of the death I have experienced over the last couple of months. Granted most of those folks who died recently were older people, but two out of the four were actually quite sudden deaths, taken me and others by surprise. The suddenness of those deaths makes life seem even more precious given it’s never guaranteed. So I guess this is my way of understanding that what is most important in life is the relationships we build with other people and the affect that we have on each other. I wouldn’t be who I am today without the relationships I have had and currently have with my loved ones.