4/1/2007
My wife has an inviting soul. Her ability to connect and form fast friends with others speaks volumes to me of her character—she has that “I am like a star shining brightly” quality (2 bonus points if you can figure out that obscure reference) that draws people in close. For instance she recently went in to do some personal banking and at the conclusion of the visit her banking representative came around the desk to give Daria a hug goodbye. Seriously, how often does that happen?
More recently, Daria met a bright young doctor, Kristina, at a women’s conference. Daria has told me so much about Kristina that I’ve looked forward to meeting her for several weeks. Friday night we met at Earl’s for dinner and had a fabulous time. I would describe Kristina as spirited, delightful, talented and spiritual. She is at an instant likeable, which is probably why Daria and Kristina connected so quickly. We talked of things medical and dental, and of things family and spiritual; and all ever so freely.
It was great to branch out and socialize with someone outside our typical sources of friendship. The evening was like trying an amazing new dish from a foreign country; the kind where you want to write down the recipe, make it yourself and then share it with others.
The evening also made me realize how much I enjoy socializing with others. Currently I find myself very focused on career, and that intense focus can sometimes dull you to the richness of life. I found the whole evening rejuvenating.
A toast to our new found friend: Kristina, may our friendship prosper and grow.
3/17/2005
I had a great friend growing up in Colin. We first met while playing on the same community basketball team when I was about 10. I was a guard, Colin was a forward. I have the pictures of us somewhere (I’ll try to post those after I dig through some boxes), we were young and goofy. It wasn’t until I switched elementary schools in grade 6 that I really got to know him as my best friend. We remained best friends all through highschool and a year or so afterwards, but as time went on we saw each other less and less as schooling, missions and jobs took us to different countries and cities. We grew up together, from complete immaturity to having a solid identity and maturity. Being friends for so long made everything sweeter, as the years went by we had all this history, nostaligia, unique lingua and countless memories. We were confidantes, teammates, buddies, and classmates. Colin was always my great encourager—he had great confidence in all my abilities, and helped me through a lot of crushes with the opposite sex. We were the kind of friends that could hang out together day-in and day-out and not get sick of each other. Invariably, I would be at Colin’s several days a week. We played sports, made movies, videogamed like crazy, hung out at various places, double-dated, ate out, shopped, danced—you name it. Truly he was my best friend. I speak in the past tense, not because we had a falling out but we just gradually drifted. We hung out over this past Christmas though and it was great to catch up. Hints of that old magic were there but things will probably never be the same —we’ve both changed. I think that is the hardest part about seeing old friends, while it is so good to see someone you treasure so much, it isn’t always easy to pick up exactly where you imagined you left off. There is a certain magic to teenage friendships where you share your emerging independence together. I have lots of friendships with good people, and while I’d call them friends it doesn’t seem quite the same in adulthood. Fortunately, there isn’t a huge gaping void that hasn’t been filled. My dearest closest friend is my sweetheart, Daria. My kids are friends to me “of the highest type.” And yet, if I could still have the incredible friendship with Colin that I had before, with all other things being the self-same, I would gladly embrace it. It’s interesting because though we enjoyed one another so much Colin and I are two very completely different people. Growing up Colin was like one of the “have provinces” while I would say I was more like a “have-not province.” He had a lot of free resources and money, and though I too had a reasonable cash flow, Colin often carried a lot of his friends with rides, and courteous gestures and above average birthday gifts etc. I know that is what you would expect from a good friend, but I never sensed in Colin a huge resentment or tiring of his constant courtesy that might have happened in others. I hope when I move back to Calgary we might build our friendship again, but perhaps that may be something that always remains in the past. I still have the highest of hopes for all of my friends—may their lives be blessed.
