Keeping In Touch

I have been a busy bee the last few months. Particularly in the last 30 days, I have had projects and tidbits to do from sunup to sundown. So, like everyone in society, I put off calling loved ones and spending time with friends to get work done. Doing so is sometimes necessary, to be sure. To say otherwise, I would risk sounding like a bum who has never seen a full time job. But its something all us full-time job people see now and then. This time though, it made me do some thinking.

After attending Josh Whitcomb's wedding down in Cincinatti (which was a lovely event. Maybe the best I have seen). I was slapped in the face at just how important friends and family are. This post isn't something thats going to give you a friendly reminder about spending time with loved ones. I want this to be a charge. You seriously need to INVEST in the people you love.

Seeing Josh and Andrew (together we made up the groom's side of the party), two very close, very dear friends of mine reminded me how much I missed them. And if I had not seen them I don't think I would have known how big of a hole was in my life.

Those two men are irreplaceable friends. I have never and will never have friends like them. Having not seen them for over a year (two years in the case of Andrew) and doing an awful job at keeping in touch with them, I was blown away at how familiar being around them felt. It was like we set our friendship down, moved to different states, left it alone for two years, and then picked it back up where we left off. Nothing was lost and nothing was spoiled. It was like the Twinkie of relationships.

But by not being near them, I picked up some really dumb things. Particularly time-wasters that most of us are guilty of like the internet and tv. But I did those things because I didn't have my buddies near me, and thats where my inspiration to write this came from. My wife is my best friend, solemnly replacing two other men who I call "brother" (Josh and Tim Cunningham) which is whats supposed to happen. But that doens't mean I can put those guys away, and the great divide known as "distance" has beaten our ambition to keep in touch into an apathetic bowl of soup. The crazy thing is, if you're reading this, you're probably not spending enough time with friends or family.

I know there is a time and a place for all things, and distance is something that makes ANYTHING difficult, relationships especially. But actually reflect on your own life and think of anything you can do to make that distance a little smaller, even if that means playing word-with-friends with your grandma. The greatest thing to come out of the 21st century will be developing a method of consistently keeping in touch with loved ones. But that method might just be taking an hour out of your day to pick up a phone.