Friendship is Good Timing

My writing partner and her husband are moving away today, embarking on a new journey and adventure. This move is the reward for a job well done, a trust well managed, and a new task that they are trusted to fulfill. I am happy for them, but sad for me.

Years ago, before I joined the writing community, I spent a great deal of time at home, alone. It was my norm to look for ways to fill the minutes and hours of my free time away from the office. To put it kindly, I was bored.  It was a lull in my life that was created at the crossroads of another past friendship.  It was a time for discovering myself.

Fast forward some years later, and I find myself with a life full of family and friends that understand that crazy determination that comes when you finally admit to yourself, what you and others have known all along; you are a writer, and your task at this stage in your life is to write. It was my taking a step forward and working towards my writing that brought my writing partner into my life. We meshed in an easy way, that filled our time together with work, encouragement, comfort, peace, accomplishment, and most of all, laughter. I’d find myself doing something days after one of our writing sessions, and laughing out loud by myself over some story or incident.  Her friendship has brought me so much joy.

I’m not sure what my Fridays will look like now that she is moving away, but I can only thank her and her family for taking me in, welcoming me into their circle, and giving me this wonderful gift of friendship, love and laughter. These gifts, though free, are often the item that many can never afford. 

It’s another time of discovery for me. It’s a time of reevaluating my life and the tasks and goals that I set for myself. It’s a time for putting things in motion, and I can thank my writing partner again, for being the force behind the actions that I am taking. I’ll never be a type A like she is, but I feel slightly infected with her drive. Starting in a few days, I’ll be moving forward with these tasks without her constant local encouragement. 

The truth is that people are always coming in and out of our lives. Some leave with the ferocity of thunder and lightning, with effects long remembered, and others leave with the quiet shutting of a door, noticed, but otherwise without impact.  My writing partner’s leaving is the thunder and lightning, but also like the warmth of summer sun, greatly loved, always remembered, but whose return is constantly wished for, and awaited.  If we’re lucky, we meet those who change our lives in positive ways, and validate us in the things that we know. We hope that another will notice, and love us, with all of our fault lines, cracks, and damage.

It is a true blessing to find that. So fair winds and following seas my friend. While I wish your a calm journey; I know that no matter what storms come your way, you are beyond prepared. I lift my glass to you, and look forward to the next time we share a laugh, chat like school girls, and break bread, together.