Most things in life seem to come and go in waves. At some point we are meeting lots of new people. At some point we have friends nearby. At some point everyone realizes change is needed and moves a little closer to their goals, but a little farther from one another. At some point you sit down and write a blog post about it instead of letting yourself get gloomy about impending loneliness.
I moved to Florida 3 years ago this week. That’s insane for starters. I planned to be moving in for a year and moving out as fast as I could. I made a handful of friends, assuming it would be somewhat temporary, but somehow I managed to marry one of them. Since realizing I wasn’t going anywhere, I made newer more substantial friendships of the sort you hope last a really long time.
Husband aside, my best friend here for the past two years has been Amy. She was a coworker when I was teaching in Naples. Her husband soon became friends with my husband, and it’s been fun spending time with them and learning from them. They’re probably just shy of 20 years older than us, but it’s never really felt that way (at least not for us.) But we have learned a lot from them. Some things about life, some things about working on cars, some things about budgeting and living wisely.
Less than a month ago Amy applied for a job in Atlanta, got an offer two days later, and has been making plans for moving ever since. Today, she is gone. I’m excited that her family is moving up in the world, both in the sense of going north and getting out of Florida, but also in the sense of leaving for a better work environment. But I’m also going to miss my best friend.
My sister Gabrielle who has been staying with us this summer will also be leaving for Switzerland the first week of September. She finally got her visa into her passport so nothing is holding her back anymore. I’m very excited for her since she has worked so long to be accepted to the convent, but now my little sister is leaving to be a nun, just a week before I have my baby.
Basically, this is the bottom of the wave, and everyone is leaving. I know it’s just part of life, and as we enter new phases, with pregnancy and parenthood and work, that we will meet new people and make new friends, so it’s not the end of the world. But it sure is tough when people leave all of a sudden, or go so far away that you can’t visit easily.
Here’s to moving on to new adventures and making new friendships.
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