100 Business Days Out: Day 73 - Neither Time Nor Distance...

It's a great quote from the movie The Big Chill about friendships. As they parted from the unfortunate reunion they staked their friendships as ones that could not be marred by "neither time nor distance". The sad fact is that none of us have enough friends that we can say that about. Time takes its toll as we go through the years and go through our separate lives. Distance is a killer as the complexities of our lives don't allow for us to hop on planes or take road trips for the weekends like we used to. So time and distance dilute and destroy the friendships that we once thought were so strong. Today (and yesterday) and on through the weekend we are pushing back. John and Tammy Murabito have driven up from Philadelphia with their daughter Florence to stay with us through Sunday. I have seen John a couple of times over the last few years but Patti hasn't seen either of them since the Millennium when we spent New Years with them and the Newtons in a rented cabin in Gatlinburg, TN. (we wanted to be in the woods in case the world ended...or something like that). That was over eight years ago. And before that we spent a lot of time together visiting back and forth when we didn't live in the same town. But let me tell you here and now...it is true, neither time nor distance can get in the was of the best of friends. Since they arrived it has been like no time nor distance ever passed. Of course we have spent time "catching up". How could you not when eight years have passed but the true test of friendship is how fast that time gets covered and you are back into the present and the future. For us, it was one night and now it is like we never missed a beat. We have all had this happen to us. Guys especially I notice feel this way. We can get together with our college buddies after years and years and pick right back up the conversation. It's not always much more than superficial conversations but it does continue where it left off. What this says to me is that it is the way we are wired to be able to do this. And while not with everyone, the best of friends can do it and do it easily. However, there is a bad side to this as well. Because we know we can do it, we take it for granted and we abuse the fact that there will be another tomorrow. That's where we need to challenge ourselves and a challenge I have given myself today. While neither time nor distance may get in the way of the best of friends, time is not a constant. We are living on borrowed time and we may not have that many more chances to be in the here and now with those we care about and love. Look around and think about the number of people you know who are sick, have cancer, or are not able to do what they once did. It's more and more every year that we live...it's just part of aging. And while aging is a great alternative to the other choice, we need to seize the opportunities we have to share our time with the closest friends we have so that we can say that we just didn't let time nor distance get in the way. Maybe if not for this time I have, I might have not internalized this life lesson.