Reaching Out: Friend From Past Reconnects
How important is our youth? Are there certain times in our life that are just "special" in ways that perhaps we don't realize until many years later? Are there people we have lost touch with that we could reach out to . . . find after many years . . . perhaps 32 of them? Will we see certain parts of them that were there all those years before, pieces of their personalities that still stand out, that have remained even though the years have long since gone?
I had a chance to find out recently when a fellow I met on a cruise 32 years ago called me out of the blue. A girlfriend and I met this young man when we were on the adventure of a lifetime . . . a Mediterranean cruise. We were all so young then; what a magical time. He was traveling with his family (parents and siblings). He became smitten with my friend, and a group of several, including a couple of his siblings, all palled around together. Life was so BIG and we thrilled at all it had to offer . . . the adventures, the sights, everyday something new and different. It was such a time of innocent freedom, good fun, joy at being alive.
Life has happened to both of us during these 32 years and we have had fun catching up on it. Most of all I wondered what made this man pick up the phone and reach out after all this time. He said he was moving some things from his office and came across a box of old pictures and stuff from the mid-70's. It took him back to a time in life that he realizes now was so incredibly special. He said he didn't want to die with any regrets and he would have regretted not reaching out to see where I was, what I was doing, if I was well. When I first heard his message on my voice mail I assumed the worst . . . his mother or a sibling had passed away. Isn't that what usually prompts us to call? But, no. It was life, not death or tragedy that prompted him to call.
As we talked, he said, "You've still got the crazy sense of humor I remember." Yes, and he still used words and phrases that, for me, rolled 32 years back in a flash. The brain is an amazing organ. I could see the deep blue water, feel the Mediterranean warmth, recall the richness of our youthful camaraderie.
Addiction sucks the life right out of us. It takes away all the joys. It can take it away in our youth making it so that we don't have these kinds of memories to enjoy with a friend 32 years later. Addiction can make it so that upon finding those photographs a person is too sick to reach out . . . or when they reach out they find someone on the other end who is not well.
This man and I talked about relationships, how important they are, how precious our family and friends are. Do you have someone you haven't connected with in a long time? Wonder where they are, how they are doing, what they've done with their lives? Maybe it's time to reach out, to reconnect and, yes, to remember.
If drugs or alcohol are robbing your quality of life or that of a loved one, please reach out for help. Life is too dear to sit back and do nothing; time is too valuable to waste.
There is Help~There is Hope
I had a chance to find out recently when a fellow I met on a cruise 32 years ago called me out of the blue. A girlfriend and I met this young man when we were on the adventure of a lifetime . . . a Mediterranean cruise. We were all so young then; what a magical time. He was traveling with his family (parents and siblings). He became smitten with my friend, and a group of several, including a couple of his siblings, all palled around together. Life was so BIG and we thrilled at all it had to offer . . . the adventures, the sights, everyday something new and different. It was such a time of innocent freedom, good fun, joy at being alive.
Life has happened to both of us during these 32 years and we have had fun catching up on it. Most of all I wondered what made this man pick up the phone and reach out after all this time. He said he was moving some things from his office and came across a box of old pictures and stuff from the mid-70's. It took him back to a time in life that he realizes now was so incredibly special. He said he didn't want to die with any regrets and he would have regretted not reaching out to see where I was, what I was doing, if I was well. When I first heard his message on my voice mail I assumed the worst . . . his mother or a sibling had passed away. Isn't that what usually prompts us to call? But, no. It was life, not death or tragedy that prompted him to call.
As we talked, he said, "You've still got the crazy sense of humor I remember." Yes, and he still used words and phrases that, for me, rolled 32 years back in a flash. The brain is an amazing organ. I could see the deep blue water, feel the Mediterranean warmth, recall the richness of our youthful camaraderie.
Addiction sucks the life right out of us. It takes away all the joys. It can take it away in our youth making it so that we don't have these kinds of memories to enjoy with a friend 32 years later. Addiction can make it so that upon finding those photographs a person is too sick to reach out . . . or when they reach out they find someone on the other end who is not well.
This man and I talked about relationships, how important they are, how precious our family and friends are. Do you have someone you haven't connected with in a long time? Wonder where they are, how they are doing, what they've done with their lives? Maybe it's time to reach out, to reconnect and, yes, to remember.
If drugs or alcohol are robbing your quality of life or that of a loved one, please reach out for help. Life is too dear to sit back and do nothing; time is too valuable to waste.
There is Help~There is Hope
Labels: Addiction, friends, relationships, the past, youth
posted by Alice Tanner at
10:23 PM
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