3 stories about friendship

Here are some connecting thoughts about friendship that I would like to share.

My first story is about Ed who has been friends with me and Joe here since the mid 90s. Ed moved to Tx 5 years and would on occasion keep in touch via facebook with us. Last month, Joe got an email from Ed that he is coming back to Chicago for his Grandma's birthday celebration. Unfortunately Joe was also going to be in Wi for his sister's wedding that weekend so Joe alerted me that Ed is coming and told Ed to contact me instead. Joe told me to call Ed so I did but unfortunately the number I have of him did appear to be a wrong number. I did not get an email from Ed either so I figure he was busy with his family or he just did not deem my company worth his time. I do not know cause I never did see Ed that weekend when he was here. Here is my take about this. A friend will find time to see his/her friend. If Ed made the effort to contact Joe that he is coming but yet did not bother to contact me just shows me that perhaps I am not really that kind of friend to him. So I left it as it is and did not make a big deal out of it. I figured life is too short to vex myself about how my "friends" behave.

Amy and I have been good friends for the past 15 years but lately I noticed that Amy is more preoccupied with her other new friends and have neglected me. As I mentioned above, friends will make time for another friend so I figure if Amy is too busy for me, then I will just leave it be. I slowly did not bother to contact Amy and pretend that we are still very good friends when in fact I was not that to her anymore. Somehow Amy may have sensed that I have been absent from her life for quite some time now that she decided to reach out more and start making efforts to hang out with me. Her efforts have not been met with rejection. My take on this is simply. A friend may neglect another friend but a true friend will make efforts to make up for neglecting his/her friend.

Sometimes when a friend moves away, there is a gradual decrease of contact as a result of geographic distance between the friends. This is very natural but neither distance or time can not separate true friends. This brings me to my third story about me and Gen. Gen and I were good friends in college but have not lived in the same place since then. So we rarely see each other. In fact the last I saw Lillibeth in person was 10 years ago when she visited Chicago. Despite of rarely seeing her, we have managed to keep in touch via phone call or text. I am happy to say that I have been good at keeping in touch with old friends without any ulterior motives to it. I am glad I am not one of those that are "user" friendly. I am not only keeping in touch with old friends cause I have something to get out of the friendship but for the sake of keeping in touch with a friend.

I hope to always remember these stories and hopefully it will continue to guide me to be a better friend to another.