If you're lucky, you may have a few "good" friends that you've known for years and no matter how much time passes, it seems like you're picking up right where you left off.
After many years pass and so many changes occur in everyone's lives, getting together makes you really appreciate this friendship that has survived. I am fortunate enough to have kept some"true" friends from my past and have also grown close to some new ones over the years. With all of the classes I have taught, the many gyms I've worked at, and variety of other jobs and activities I've participated in, I am surrounded by many great people I call "Friends".
My 10-year reunion opened my eyes to see that some people I spent time with in high school were just people to pass the time with while others had a greater impact on me when I saw them whether we stayed in touch or not.
Ten years after high school most people were trying to impress with their accomplishments and careers, while I was (in the minority) showing photos of my children. Although I trained clients, taught Aerobic classes, and I went to school part-time, I was more of a "stay-home mom" at that time.
The 20-year reunion was very different and had less people attend. I felt that most people were truly happy to see each other and weren't trying to "impress with their success". Now "they" were showing photos of their young children and I was already divorced.
My children were 8, 12, and 15 so I was ready to go out afterwards with other friends who either still single, divorced, or had babysitters. Most of my struggling was over and things were staring to get much easier for me.
My closest friends couldn't attend so we planned our own reunion in South Beach, Florida. Two lived in Florida, one in Arizona, and two of us in New Jersey. It was amazing to see them after 10 or 20 years and still connect immediately!
Most of those four days were spent talking on the beach or while drinking sangria at the condo. We made an agreement that we'd try to get together at least once a year and the next year we did just that, and this time was with our families. My girlfriend Frankie and her husband Joe were gracious enough to let us all come to their beautiful home in Cape May, NJ. It was four of us ladies, two husbands, 3 teens, an 11-yr. old, and four more that still cry a few times a day...definitely eventful!
I occasionally get together with some of my high school friends since I am living back in the town I grew up in.
It's nice to see that my kids are friends with children of people I went to school with, and I've also become friends with some of my kid's parents that I didn't know from school. I love my hometown of Secaucus, NJ...great people here!
After many years pass and so many changes occur in everyone's lives,
getting together makes you really appreciate this friendship that has
survived. I am fortunate enough to have kept some"true" friends from my
past and have also grown close to some new ones over the years. With
all of the classes I have taught, the many gyms I've worked at, and
variety of other jobs and activities I've participated in, I am
surrounded by many great people I call "Friends".
Since working at Hackensack University Medical Center I have met so many good friends that are not from my town. Just like children in school who spend 7 or 8 hours with the kids in school, we as adults form bonds with the people at our jobs that we spend a lot of time with. It is what makes going to work every day something to look forward to...or at least more enjoyable.
Of course being the "Naked Cowgirl" of Times Square has brought a whole new world of people into my life, some just passing by and others who have become meaningful in my life and made life very exciting at times.
Then there are the people in our lives that we spend the most time with when not at work or school, such as family and significant others. They are the ones we complain to about our jobs and school, and the ones we talk to when we are concerned with or upset with our friends.
Let's be grateful for the important people (and pets) in our lives both near and far and make time for them while we can :)
