As a member of the military we work with literally hundreds of people over the course of our careers. We develop friendships with people that in other circumstances, perhaps we wouldn’t. People that you may not have much in common with otherwise. I have several of these friends that were part of a small group of us that spent a harrowing 14 month together in Korea. One of them is a woman that I have spoken of to others as “one of my favorite people on the planet”. Very few people earn that distinction from me. She happens to outrank me, but she’s a person who I just enjoy being around. So smart and so driven that it’s almost scary. But also the kind of person who brightens a room, brightens a day, and brightens a life. She’s not my mentor or professional confidant or anything of the sort. Our friendship is not based on what she can do for me or I for her. Its foundation was built from simply being thrown into the same circumstances. We understood each other as only someone who’s ‘been there too’ could.
As our time in Korea drew to a close, and the day came to say our goodbyes, numbers and emails were exchanged, hugs were shared, tears were shed. We knew that at the same time tomorrow, thousands of miles would separate us. Careers would take us in different directions, and we may never see one another again. Then one day out of the blue, as so often takes place in the profession of arms, it happens. You are walking down the hallway of your building that houses 3,000 other military members and you catch each other’s eye. All military bearing goes flying out the window as you both let out screams of delight and almost knock each other over in an embrace that was 4 long years in the making. Tears are shed again…
We were so excited to see one another. We only work a hallway away. We don’t live that far apart either. Oh the fun we will have! We’ll do lunch! We’ll have dinner together! We’ll go SHOPPING! Then things come up. We get busy. Our intentions are always there, though. Lots of emails, lots of hugs as we pass in the hallway, lots of plans are made and broken. Then a couple of weeks go by and I realize that I haven’t seen my friend in a while. Emails aren't answered, phones just ring and my senses tell me something is amiss. Today, I see her online. First time in ages, and I’m so excited. I shoot off an IM…”OMG, you’re alive! YAY!!” "Yes, Weeble", she says to me. "I’m here". “How are you?”, I ask…
Things are not well. As she tells me more, my heart begins to hurt. As she tells me more, I selfishly think how happy I am that we are “talking” on IM, so she can’t see the tears welling up in my eyes, and she wouldn't have to hear my voice crack as I tried to summon up something positive to say. “My friend”, I type to her through IM, “we will get together, even if only for tea, the moment you are feeling well enough to do so.” I mean those words with every ounce of my being.
I have never been one to dwell on the urgency of doing things now because ‘there may not be a tomorrow’. I’m not a fool. I know that no one is promised tomorrow. I've lost enough people to know that better than a lot of people my age, I suppose.
That said, I have a couple of friends at this assignment that I have the same kind of relationship with. I think this week I am going to go find them one by one, plant myself in their offices, and not get up until we leave together to go have lunch. They can put the phone down. They can log off their computers for 30 minutes. So can I. Something tells me we’ll all be happy we did so.
As our time in Korea drew to a close, and the day came to say our goodbyes, numbers and emails were exchanged, hugs were shared, tears were shed. We knew that at the same time tomorrow, thousands of miles would separate us. Careers would take us in different directions, and we may never see one another again. Then one day out of the blue, as so often takes place in the profession of arms, it happens. You are walking down the hallway of your building that houses 3,000 other military members and you catch each other’s eye. All military bearing goes flying out the window as you both let out screams of delight and almost knock each other over in an embrace that was 4 long years in the making. Tears are shed again…
We were so excited to see one another. We only work a hallway away. We don’t live that far apart either. Oh the fun we will have! We’ll do lunch! We’ll have dinner together! We’ll go SHOPPING! Then things come up. We get busy. Our intentions are always there, though. Lots of emails, lots of hugs as we pass in the hallway, lots of plans are made and broken. Then a couple of weeks go by and I realize that I haven’t seen my friend in a while. Emails aren't answered, phones just ring and my senses tell me something is amiss. Today, I see her online. First time in ages, and I’m so excited. I shoot off an IM…”OMG, you’re alive! YAY!!” "Yes, Weeble", she says to me. "I’m here". “How are you?”, I ask…
Things are not well. As she tells me more, my heart begins to hurt. As she tells me more, I selfishly think how happy I am that we are “talking” on IM, so she can’t see the tears welling up in my eyes, and she wouldn't have to hear my voice crack as I tried to summon up something positive to say. “My friend”, I type to her through IM, “we will get together, even if only for tea, the moment you are feeling well enough to do so.” I mean those words with every ounce of my being.
I have never been one to dwell on the urgency of doing things now because ‘there may not be a tomorrow’. I’m not a fool. I know that no one is promised tomorrow. I've lost enough people to know that better than a lot of people my age, I suppose.
That said, I have a couple of friends at this assignment that I have the same kind of relationship with. I think this week I am going to go find them one by one, plant myself in their offices, and not get up until we leave together to go have lunch. They can put the phone down. They can log off their computers for 30 minutes. So can I. Something tells me we’ll all be happy we did so.
2 comments:
Beautifully written my sister.
Sounds like a tough situation with your friend. If there's anything I can do...
Knowing you as I do, friendship is not a thing that comes naturally to you. I'm so thrilled that you have friends that are this close. All good things are worth working at. It's good you're finding the time.
-Chuck
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