Something I have learned in my over 40 years of life is that family and friends are not always with you. They don’t always leave in anger or betrayal. Sometimes they quietly just slip away as your season and common bonds change. Life changes such as divorce, career, health, living situations, religion, empty nesters vs people who have kids at home, something as simple as your kid who always played baseball suddenly only wants to do karate can be the catalyst of your friend group suddenly leaving.
But just because your interaction changes doesn’t mean that the love doesn’t remain. I have a friend that I loved dearly for 15 years. We no longer are in contact and that’s ok. However, through the course of our connection there were some things that she taught me that when I do them, I think of our history and smile. Here are wonderful things that I learned from someone that I used to know.
- You can be pretty and do yard work. I’d never met someone who would do her hair, put on makeup and a dress and go weed her garden. Thanks to her if I feel like it, I wear a dress on a jobsite or to weed the garden.
- Fluff the wreathes and the Christmas trees. Don’t just take them out of storage and call it a day.
- Dead head the flowers of your plants. If you do this, you keep nutrients from going to things that are dead and allow the flower to be healthy and have more blooms.
- There is value in taking your time to do things. I used to be someone who moved, unpacked and threw the photos on the wall. She was someone who took her time and moved things around. Every time I left her house; I wanted to invest in having a better place.
While we no longer talk, I don’t wish her bad. Just because were no longer in the same circle doesn’t mean I ain’t rooting for you.
Bri Clark 