As yall should know by now, I'm a military spouse. With that comes a slew of new ships. Friendships. Acquaintance-ships. Emergency contact-ships. 🥴 Some long term, some temporary. It means moving away. Dealing with crossing multiple time zones. This isn't much different than how having kids or getting married may change your ships, only difference is that every 2 - 4 years, I physically leave a place. Usually just as my ships are starting to bloom. But as the saying goes, you make time for the things you want to make time for. We make time to stay connected.
With all the coming and going, I'm thankful for social media. (Still glad it didn't exist during my college days. Whew, chile!)
It allows me to see my friends and my 'nieces' and 'nephews' even when "the mission" flings us across the globe.
Even before social media, my friends and I are intentional with each other. When I graduated from college my first job was in North Carolina, so I had to move from Mississippi. My best friend was still in Tennessee, so we had to be intentional about the calls, and when I made a business trip, we made sure to connect. She and her then boyfriend, now husband, came to NC as well. When we had friends planning to come to Memphis, I was there that weekend too.
My military friends and I try to link up when one of us is in the general area. When I went to Hawaii, my friend/neighbor and I hung out. I'm plotting and planning link ups as.we.speak!
Michelle and I are going to connect while I'm home.
This isn't just when we are in physical proximity, though. The calls, the text messages.
The love overflows in all the relationships because we choose to get the gates open. We understand that life happens, so if one of us goes silent, we reach out.
That's one of the things missing from relationships. "Stop texting and see who texts back." While I understand this sentiment, I also know that sometimes you ain't got time. If some of my friends had this mindset, there would be huge gaps in communications, because your girl mind is bad. I have plans to call, and it doesn't happen. Especially with the time differences. They never hold it against me, just like I don't hold it against them when the phone is dry.
As I prepare for my 40th birthday trip to Belize, I'm grateful for all the people that water our relationships. You have kept me grounded and made sure that I was taking care of Mon in the midst of all that goes on.
So, how are you intentional in maintaining connections? Do you actively call, text, or DM? Or you waiting on someone to reach out? Remember the highway of communication runs both ways.