Last night’s farewell party for friends of ours made me reflect on the connections we make. The moments we venture out on new journeys, not knowing what and who will wait for us.
It made me think about how we meet and start chatting and in doing so open the door for a potential new friendship. How, in that brief moment we decide to start this conversation, we bring children, parents, families and maybe even countries closer together.
Sometimes those people stay close, sometimes they leave. In an emotional but also geographical way. A friendship, if strong enough, can endure distance. In our case the distance will be only geographically as I believe they are friends for a lifetime.
When friends leave, it always leaves a gap. And it’s up to us what we make of it. Although staying in touch is theoretically easy, it still might be tricky as the people who move will have to settle down and fit in again, which takes time and energy.
If we stay open we might make a new connection, waiting for us somewhere around the next corner. Ready to fill the gap left behind. A new connection that might lead to a new friendship. A friendship that will not replace the old one but somehow make that gap smaller.
It’s our decision now to open up our heart to new connections, to new friendship. Seeing friends go might hurt in the moment, but in the long run it will always be worth having made this connection. The friendships that are meant to last will last.
Farewell. Goodbye. Until we see you again!
A Momma's View 
Interesting post, and so well written. I think I can relate. For the first 20 years, we moved frequently across states, almost every 4 years.If I mentioned that going in, potential friends would pull back, not wanting to invest the energy. So, I stopped talking about it. It made a huge difference, but, why should it ? Some of the most meaningful relationships I’ve had have been with folks I knew for only a short time. I would have missed out if I hadn’t been open to it. Something to think about. Thanks, Momma. ☺ Van
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That is so true! And I bet you now have a network of friends all over this planet 🙂
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Mostly here in the U.S. But, some international…I was drawn to those “gypsy” types . Restless and wandering. ☺
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🙂 never means they’re not worth your friendship 🙂
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Quite the contrary, we are kindred spirits ! They are some of my best friends. ☺
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Ahhh, so familiar… Really enjoyed reading your post. So far, we never stayed more than 2 years in the same country, so I must admit I am not as excited to make new friends as I used to: Time to settle down,to make friends, and hop, either we leave or they are.But hey, that’s part of the expat life…
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2 years is not long…
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Ok as long as you re working in emergency, because the work is so demanding. My first postings were only for 1 year actually. The first years are very exciting but it does not last. We need a bit more time to set up little roots and build memories instead of taking snapshots … This is our current challenge actually as we are brainstorming on our next posting ..
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I bet!
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I totally relate to your post. It’s always good to make new friends and just as you said, when it is real friendship, it will last no matter where we are. I have friends in many countries and the contact has never ended.
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That’s great. And it’s so much easier today to stay in touch.
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