Friendship

This week we were able to connect with two couples who are old friends. One couple we've known forever, having attended school together in East Hampton and attending each others' weddings.

The other couple we've known for a much shorter time but there are still bonds that keep us in touch. It was a work relationship - he was my boss, but it was a small office and we were the only two people there most of the time. Working in a situation like that means you either like each other or you move on - there's no avoiding anyone! It also makes for relationships that last because we share the details of our lives in our day-to-day working hours. In this case I liked his wife too, so it was an easy relationship to follow even after they also moved away.

One of the best things about visiting my daughter is the close proximity it puts us to old friends. Because I miss the people who've come and gone from our lives. It seems so strange that you can spend so much time with someone for many years and yet when circumstances change, you're suddenly no longer in touch. So many memories follow a close relationship. It makes me think about people who are divorced - I can't even imagine what it would be like to be married to someone and then for whatever reason leave each other and not see each other again. I know it happens all the time but it seems incredible to me that you can share that kind of intimacy with someone and then - poof! - gone from your life! No doubt in some cases that's a great blessing and relationships are complicated. But  still....it must be odd for those involved.

Yes, life changes and we move on from one relationship to another, from one place to another, from one life to another. When you get to be my age you begin to see it all with a different perspective and some things really do stand out. Life truly is a puzzle but I'm not all that sure there is any solution. We just live it and take it as it comes....we don't actually have much choice!