I sat at a dining table last night among a group of 10
friends who had not gathered together in this capacity for a couple of years. Our
initial ties were formed as parents of children who had, when younger, established
extraordinarily close friendships. Some of them, including my daughter, have
since moved on in different directions, perhaps to reconnect at a later time in
their lives, or maybe not. Until recently, I believed that the lack of physical
connection between their parents (my friends) and I had somewhat dissipated the
closeness of the bond that we had created over a decade ago.
A few of us still got together on the odd occasion, and most
of us connected on social media sites, or at various sporting events or
functions. But, it didn’t feel the same for me as when we used to take the time
to get together over a well thought out dinner menu, great wine, conversation
and many hours of laughter. I didn’t realize how much I missed this ritual of
breaking bread with this tribe of remarkable individuals until I received a
call a few months ago from my girlfriend letting me know that illness had
befallen one of us.
Last night was the celebration of the completion of our friend's treatment. We sat beside and across from one another in solidarity with the
sole purpose of supporting her in moving forward with her life. Not much was
said about what she had gone through because I think we all knew that she just
wanted to experience the comfort of how it used to be. Our coming together was
what she had always looked forward to, and being there for her was what she needed
to feel what each of us craves everyday; to simply be loved.
At one point, I sat quietly and looked around the room to
see conversations and connections being re-ignited after far too long. Memories
were recounted and new stories were shared. It was then that I realized that
friendships never really end; they just shift a little bit from time to time and
move in different directions. Eventually, we end up where we are intended to be,
and often it is right back to where we started.
#connecting #lovingkindness #ygk #daringlymindful
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