Truth 9: Someone You Didn't Want to let go, but Just Drifted

Little girl....little girl...can you come out to play?  That was my first memory of our childhood friendship.  We'd only just moved into the neighborhood and were barely settled in.   I had turned 5 in March.  This was our first home.  Actually it was the starter home for all the families who lived there.  Half the houses were still empty; those who were filled were mostly young couples with or without children.  The houses were all alike, different colors but  same shape...I think it was what they called a cookie cutter neighborhood back in the 50's.  They were springing up all over the place.   I was quite an unhappy camper.  We'd been living with my grandparents, and I had NOT wanted to move.

So, that day I remember lying in my room, moping.  I remember it was a warm day: the windows were open so it was either late spring, early summer.  It was just when I thought my world had ended that I heard her Little girl, little girl, can you come out to play?  On that day, Kathleen became the first friend I can remember having.  She was living right next door to me, and our friendship got off to a quick start...not so bad for that shy little girl who had just moved into a new neighborhood.  From the start, we did everything together...every day...inseparable twins we were. I remember us splashing in the little kiddie pool in my backyard and playing with my beloved three-legged mutt, Susie.  The sidewalk out front was always our territory whether it be for playing hopscotch, jacks or skating in our old silver skates. We played outside for hours, catching lightening bugs until our mothers called us in.  Sometimes, we'd even sleep in the backyard in our tents. 

We had several years together, but all too soon, it had to end.  Kathleen's family was growing, and they decided to move to a bigger home, not too far away, but far enough to break our bond.  Somehow I guess I knew it that day even though, as I began to cry, Kathleen said,  Don't cry.  We'll still be friends.  We will always be friends,  You can come and visit me, and I will come and visit you.  And I did.  I visited one time...and one time only.  Something was different.  Things felt different. We were both beginning to bud into our adolescent years, and it seemed that we were both heading into different directions.  Kathleen was what one would call a Nerd, a real bookworm, and I was the one who wanted to have fun.  Phone calls continued between us for awhile, and then they stopped.  I can't remember who was the one who let go.

I guess I must have known the end was coming the day the moving truck came, and Kathleen came to tell me goodbye. I can't remember how long I cried that day.   Distance can be a cruel thing...separating one person from another.  Promises to keep in touch are made, but are so easily broken, and as we busied ourselves for the next stage of life and drifted apart, the person we once treasured became a distant memory.  Sadly, too late I have realized that true friendship should not be taken for granted.  But I will always remember my first little friend.  

In six decades of life, so many people have passed through my life, and all for different reasons.   This is for all of those people.

People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.  When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.

 

When someone is in your life for a REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed outwardly or inwardly.  They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support, to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually.  They may seem like a godsend, and they are.  They are there for the reason you need them to be.  Then, without any wrong doing on your part or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.  Sometimes they die.  Sometimes they walk away.  Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.  What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled;  their work is done.  The prayer you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on. 

When people come into your life for a SEASON, it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.  They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.  They may teach you something you have never done.  They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.  Believe it!  It is real!  But, only for a season. 

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons; those things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.  Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway);  and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.  It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

Author Unknown