Moving Friends

When I was a kid and a friend moved away because their father got transferred it was sad, but you just made a new friend. There was little keeping in touch. Sometimes they moved in the middle of the summer and you never got a chance to say goodbye, or really never knew exactly where they went.

This life of living in a place where friends moved away from often taught me that it is important to try and stay in touch with friends no matter where they lived. Going to boarding school helped solidify this skill of keeping in touch with friends who are far flung long before Facebook existed.

As a I have aged I appreciate my friends wherever they live, but I really miss when they move away. The older you get the harder it is to make new friends.

Almost five years ago my friend Jeanne and her husband David moved to DC. It was a sad day when they left, but at least in DC I could see her and they had lots of reasons to come back to Durham to visit.

Unlike my childhood friends who moved away, never to be seen again, the impossible is happening and Jeanne and David are moving back to Durham. They don’t have an exact date since David is still working in DC, but they have bought a fabulous condo in downtown Durham. Tonight I got to go see it before Jeanne and I went to dinner.

This is like a dream that I never dreamt t could come true. A friend I adore returns and we can pick right up where we left off before. Now if only my other old Durham friends would move back. I’m talking to you Jan. Durham is the place to retire. It’s where your friends are.