A reason, a season or a lifetime

The video flickered.

“Can you hear me?”

“Yes!”

“Can you see me?”

“Girl, I have seen you for thirty years. And you, well you look as beautiful as the day we first met.”

I blushed. This is what good friends say to one another. Even when we feel and look like crap. My mama once told me people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. I have quite a few life-long friends. Larie is one of them.

For the last seventeen years my friend and former college roommate and I have connected, first via phone, then via Skype, to remind ourselves of who we were, and quite frankly, to remind ourselves of who we still are. We both had children around the same time and even though we lived only a few miles from each other at first, it wasn’t until I moved abroad in 2003 that we realized how much our friendship meant to one another. So every month since then, we have talked for an hour and, when life seemed out of control, for two. Together we have marked the passage of time: the sorrows and joys, the losses and the wins, the heartbreaks and the heart-filled moments of living. We have supported each other in ways only long-time friends can. In the silence. In that look. In the promise that no matter what, we will get through it – together.

I have been blessed with amazing friends over the years. All very different and yet the same. They share a loyalty and a love I can call my own. I am so very grateful for them all. For their uniqueness. For their caring. For their willingness to share the good, the bad and the ugly. And, foremost, for their forgiveness.

When we think of how we spend our days, rushing toward an unknown something, driven by ambition and a sense propelling us forward, we are often blind to what is truly important. In my view, relationships are the most important aspect of human life. As we have collectively experienced over the past four months, isolation takes a toll on our mental health. We need each other. And yet our modern lives are often set up to ignore the importance of being in relationship with one another.

This pandemic has forced us to face our biggest fears – and our greatest gifts. The only way through it will be a united willingness to help one another. Respect will play an even larger role. We are interdependent. If nothing else, these times have shown the proof of that truth to us all.

Next month we will Skype again and review what we have experienced since we spoke last. I am certain we will have a lot to say to one another. Good friends always do.

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