Today in my thinking and thankfulness, I want to say thank you to God for the friends that I made while in High School back in good ol' Afton, New York. I should also admit that the friendships I made in high school actually had their roots even earlier in my life, for I attended the same public school, under the same roof, from Kindergarten until my graduation from High School.
While my last two years of high school left me somewhat confused about who I was, and who I was a friend to, the test of time has proven that even though I was not always a good friend to have, there were some who were friends to me then even when I didn't deserve their friendship.
A small handful of those same people are still my friends today, though we are separated by, as a minimum, hours of asphalt, and at a maximum, thousands of miles of Atlantic Ocean. No matter the distance, or the time zone, though...this marvel of electronic and digital communication we call the Internet has facilitated our reconnection and allows me to try to nurture those friendships. In truth, I have put more effort into reconnecting, reviving, rebuilding and maintaining those friendships now that I have reached into and beyond middle age than I ever did in my teenage years, when I was searching for an identity in which I could be comfortable. Back then, different things were important to me. Most of those things that seemed all-important then now seem silly and selfish to me. I now know that it was NOT what friendship might offer me, but the friendship ITSELF that was, and is, important.
Jane, Tim, Tim, and Sue (and some others who are not yet connected with me by these invisible electronic links)--I'm sorry I was not a better friend to you back then and there. I'm hoping to do better here and now. Thanks for not pulling the plug on me.
While my last two years of high school left me somewhat confused about who I was, and who I was a friend to, the test of time has proven that even though I was not always a good friend to have, there were some who were friends to me then even when I didn't deserve their friendship.
A small handful of those same people are still my friends today, though we are separated by, as a minimum, hours of asphalt, and at a maximum, thousands of miles of Atlantic Ocean. No matter the distance, or the time zone, though...this marvel of electronic and digital communication we call the Internet has facilitated our reconnection and allows me to try to nurture those friendships. In truth, I have put more effort into reconnecting, reviving, rebuilding and maintaining those friendships now that I have reached into and beyond middle age than I ever did in my teenage years, when I was searching for an identity in which I could be comfortable. Back then, different things were important to me. Most of those things that seemed all-important then now seem silly and selfish to me. I now know that it was NOT what friendship might offer me, but the friendship ITSELF that was, and is, important.
Jane, Tim, Tim, and Sue (and some others who are not yet connected with me by these invisible electronic links)--I'm sorry I was not a better friend to you back then and there. I'm hoping to do better here and now. Thanks for not pulling the plug on me.
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