Friends Forever

And friends are friends forever If the Lord's the lord of them And a friend will not say never cause the welcome will not end Though its hard to let you go In the Father's hands we know That a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.
- Michael W. Smith

This past weekend my bride and I traveled 200 miles north, and almost a decade back in time to reunite with some friends that I hadn't seen in many years.

I have known Jim and Anne for around 22 years. Their kids babysat mine, and we were so close that we had them in our will as caretakers for our children in case anything happened to their mom and me. We shared many meals, adventures, vacations, laughter and tears.

A job change for Jim took he and Anne to a large metro area. A divorce for me led us in different directions. Staying in touch with distant friends takes effort, and the emotional duress of a broken marriage left me little energy to try to keep communication lines open.

Then as life often does, days turn into years, and one day I realized that embarrassment of a failed marriage and from failing to keep in touch were poor excuses to miss great friends.

I no longer had contact information for my friends, but I did a little internet sleuthing and found Jim's new place of employment (he had moved to a different job in the same city as the one that drew him away from the Austin area). Even after making the initial contact with Jim, it took nearly a year before I initiated a visit.

As my bride and I traveled up to visit Saturday morning, I had to admit to her that I was anxious. It wasn't that I thought we wouldn't be welcome. My fear was that I might discover that time had changed us all to the point that the only things we had in common were things of the past. Perhaps I would find out that our friendship could live only in my memory, like the old farmhouse that once stood on my grandparent's farm.

Like many fears, mine were unfounded. Jim and Anne welcomed us into their home. My bride had not officially met them, so it was their first opportunity to get to know her. Once the introductions were made, it seemed as if we had seen each other last week, not a decade ago.

We caught one another up on parents, children and grandchildren. We shared meals, adventures, laughter and tears, and made plans for hill country vacations together. We laughed until our faces cramped and sides ached. We worshiped together, killed a baby-bird eating snake (that story another time), and sat in the front yard under the trees. I dreaded the eventual goodbye, as the relentless pull of time began to drag us back to the workaday world. All too soon our visit was over.

I am sorry I lost touch with my friends...but fortunately for me...friends are friends forever if the Lord's the lord of them...






Comments

Sara Lisch said…
Very touching. And I especially like the way you keep calling Tammy "my bride" - that's as wholesome as "American Pie"...ha ha.
Mark said…
LOL...and I like calling her that...
tdillow said…
Yeah and I love it when he calls me that too. ;) BTW it's more wholesome than "Apple Pie" wink wink
Sara Lisch said…
Harvey and I decided that we will disappear from your lives for a few years so that you write something nice about us too when we return. Nah - we could never do that!
Mark said…
I guess that means I need to write something nice about you now...like how you saved me from a life of bachelorhood by introducing me to my bride?
Sara Lisch said…
Nah, that was a freebie for you - I really did it for Tammy because she deserved you!
tdillow said…
Sara; you are just too kind! <3
Anonymous said…
Great post, Mark. We have a friends like that. Regardless of how long we are apart, when we are together, it's as if the years disappear.

I'm loving your blog.
Mark said…
Thanks for the kind words Steph's mom ;-)

Sara...I don;t know what bad thing T. did to deserve me, but it's definitely my gain!

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