I've been thinking a lot about all the amazing friends in my life lately. I had great friends in high school and college, lots that I still keep in touch with, some who are my best friends. I've also made a lot of new friends in the past couple of years, something I wasn't convinced people actually did as they got older.
When I graduated from college over 2 years ago and moved to Dallas to strike out on my own, I never thought I'd have friends like I've made down here. The first few months were hard. I'm a bit of a social butterfly, so living in an apartment by myself for the first time, in a new city, was too much at times. Of course there were other factors. My fiance (bf at the time) was back in St Louis the first year I was here and as you can imagine, I missed him. A lot. But we were determined to make it work, so I spent a lot of that first year on an airplane, flying back and forth and seeing him as much as possible. Maybe it was that, or maybe it's just tough to make friends at first. Either way, it was a little more than discouraging and I was convinced this place would never be my home.
"You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." - Winnie the Pooh
I started making a few friends at work, going to happy hours and joining a work softball team. It's funny how going on a work trip or hanging out at happy hour or playing softball with someone can turn into a real friendship. I've had people tell me they don't socialize with people at work, or that it's bad to mix your professional and personal life. I couldn't disagree more. I've made some of the best friends through work.
It also didn't hurt that several of my sorority sisters from college were in the area when I moved here and more started trickling in as time went on. One of my best friends from high school moved here and now lives 5 miles away from me! I'm not sure if I'm just extremely lucky, or if Dallas has some magnetic force pulling the people I love here.
I joined a book club and met a great group of girls that I hang out with at least once a month. I'm convinced girls night out is good for the soul. When my fiance moved down here, he started making friends at work too. Again who are you people who don't work with anyone cool?? We do.
All of the sudden I look around and I literally have more friends around me than I know what to do with. Sometimes it's slightly overwhelming because I literally don't have time to see everyone as often as I want to see them. This last year has been challenging and exciting and scary. I got engaged, spent some time in the hospital, and took a new job. Throughout the year, I was continually amazed at how my friends were there for me...sending me flowers, visiting me in the hospital, throwing us an engagement party, bringing champagne to celebrate the new job, and the list goes on. I've made some amazing memories in the last two years and have realized that growing up doesn't mean giving up the type of friendships I had when I was younger. It just means I get more friends along the way.
So friends, if you're reading this, thank you for being you. And thank you for being great friends.
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