My mom always told me that it didn't matter how many friends a person has, but how many of those friends you can count on to call at 3 in the morning when you're sitting in a police station. Think about it. How many of your friends would you call in an emergency? Like being in the police station at 3 in the morning? Or the hospital emergency room at 11 at night when your boyfriend is on a gurney being rolled in to emergency surgery after being air-lifted from the place you live - 5 hours away from a major hospital and city centre? THOSE people that you'd call - they're the ones you can count on for sure.
I've been very lucky to have collected some amazing friends all around the world. Despite the fact that on average I've lived 4 years in any one place since I was 21 (except for Atlanta - that was an uncommonly long time for me to live anywhere) I still have friends in each and every one of those places. And thank God I do, because here? Here on the island in the Northumberland Straight? It seems that everyone made friends when they were in elementary school and no one really needs any more.
Oh sure, people are very nice to you. In a "I want to know everything about you, your life and how you're trying to find meaningful employment" kind of way. But not in the way that is particularly meaningful to me and the one whom I adore. It's all rather superficial and that's okay because to quote my mother again, "it is what it is."
Which is why I'm so happy that my friends near and far are still a part of my daily life. They are my "go to" people for advice, encouragement, laughter, outrage, commiseration and let's face it a good glass of pinot grigio while we analyze the contestants from "So You Think You Can Dance" over long distance phone calls. From our shared experiences over (in some cases) 30 years or even just 7 years, my friends and I have created ties that bind us together. No matter where I live in this world, they are there for me, as I am for them.
Having a shared history with people, people that you don't work with or for, are that much more important. It's nice to spend an evening around a campfire talking about "life" issues - which we did a couple of weeks ago with childhood friends of the one whom I adore. It'll be nice next week to visit with friends from Jasper who are vacationing in Nova Scotia. I'm looking forward to seeing my high school friend Kathy, (whom I have not seen in over 20 years) in a few weeks when she's (hopefully) visiting after a trip to New Brunswick. It's why I'm looking forward to spending time this summer at Loon Lake outside of Gravenhurst.
Which brings me to the point of this post. No matter that I am not meeting new people here, no matter that work continues to be a conundrum, no matter that I sometimes spend my days daydreaming away, no matter what comes up, I know I have a group of people that I can call on at 3 in the morning or any other time of day or night for that matter. This whole blogging thing, just makes it all the more easier for my friends (be they in Australia, Vancouver, Atlanta, Ontario or points in between) to stay involved in our lives here on the east coast.
Whomever invented this thing here, called the internet and then the guy that invented blogging - they could be my friends too, because honestly, the internet and blogging are part of the ties that bind me to my friends around the world. I should really thank them for that.
