“You seem like you know each other really well,” my teenage son observed after everyone left.  He was remarking on my relationship with one of those that shared the day with us.  We had a group of people over that we hadn’t seen in years and enjoyed the day reminiscing. We laughed and joked and caught up.  It has been years (I won’t mention how many) since we saw each other daily.  It was odd to him that I had this strong sense of comradery with someone he had only met a handful of times in his entire life.

“With some people, you just connect,” I explained to him.  “It doesn’t matter how much time passes or where your lives have led you or how much you have changed, you pick back up where you left off.”

Those people are a treasure.

There are all sorts of friends.  Some are in your life for a season, others for a lifetime. Often relationships grow cold as your lives change.  Not that you don’t care for them anymore, but others slide into their spots in your life as activities, interests, or jobs change.  All of those friendships are valuable.

Then there are those that are timeless.  After months (or years) apart, you can be your most vulnerable or your most silly or make a comment that no one else will interpret the same way. I have several of these and it makes me sad that I don’t do life with them.  They live far away or have busy lives that don’t match my busy life.  We were close for a season and walked through some pretty intense life experiences together.  Because of that, I will treasure them always even though our lives don’t intersect as often as I would like.

And…when I do see them?  When I share in laughs and stories, when we talk about troubles or share advice…I remember.  I remember that I miss them.

That night after sharing a day with friends from my past, I remembered.  I remembered how much I miss them.

Treasuring,

Heather Smith

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