Seasons of Friendships

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It was a crisp, fall afternoon, my dad and I were walking our usual route around the neighborhood when I asked him why we weren’t seeing certain family friends as often as we once did. He told me, among many different reasons, that sometimes friendships only last a season. My 13-year-old mind had a hard time computing this, as I had grown up to believe that friendships were to last forever. Little did I know at the time that the conversation we had that day would stay with me until this day.

I have come to understand what my dad meant on that chilly, colorful autumn day as I have been able to experience the beauty and pain of living through seasons of friendships. Whether it be school friends, work friends, friends you meet while traveling or living other places, I find that it has gotten harder to go through these seasons of friendships. 

I have always enjoyed meeting new people, but what I love even more is having that instant connection. The one where you feel like kindred spirits, like you have known them for so much longer than you actually have. Where you start a conversation, and it doesn’t feel awkward, or they share something that you can totally relate to. Those kind of instant connections are so precious, so rare and somewhat magical. Since I have moved around a bit I have been able to enjoy experiencing that magic several times.

However, I am in a season right now where instead of experiencing that magic of meeting someone new, I am enduring that pain that comes along with saying “goodbye” or as I prefer “see you later” to many of my friends.  You see, I am moving out of state, which means I will not be able to see some of my favorite people quite as easily as I do now. This is not my first time moving away, so I have had practice at saying “see you later” to many people I love, but it seems to be getting harder rather than easier. I don’t know if that’s because this is the first time I am saying “see you later” to people that have so fiercely loved me and my baby, or the fact that I am pretty darn hormonal being pregnant or that after doing this a few times I actually understand that moving doesn’t mean our friendship is over, but it definitely means that will be different.  

One thing I do know about myself is that I am pretty terrible at staying in contact with friends. I try my hardest to check in, but overall it is a weakness of mine and knowing this also makes saying “see you later” that much harder. Fortunately, whenever I do get the chance to see friends after being apart for a while, the magic is still there. That connection that we initially shared, plus all the memories we made together makes saying “see you later” a little less difficult. There is nothing quite like that reunion when you get to catch up on life and feel like no time has passed!

So as this season of my life comes to a close, I am so grateful that I will get to take with me so many wonderful memories as well as the knowledge that one day in the future I will get to experience that magic of reconnecting with some of my favorite people. I also look forward to making those new connections with people that I don’t even know yet but will feel like I have known forever.

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lindsaymartinez
Lindsay is an Indy transplant, originally hailing from Wisconsin. Yes, she is still proud to be a Cheese Head, but has fallen in love with Indianapolis and now considers it home. After working aboard in Honduras for four years at a bilingual school, she moved back stateside in 2013 and continued working in preschools. She now enjoys spending her time at home with her spunky one year old. When not doing mom things, you can find her trying to stay fit, going to new local restaurants, planning her next vacation, trying any and all new things, but most likely she will be found on the couch enjoying Netflix with her handsome hubby!