Friday's Soapbox - On Saturday - Friendship

Yesterday, my schedule got completely off. As a result, I missed my workout and couldn't do my Friday blog entry until today. The reason the day got totally away from me? I had lunch with 2 really good friends.

We agreed to meet for lunch around 1:00. Five hours later, neither one of them ever made it back to their office and my afternoon plans were suddenly shot. I was suppose to do a little writing and then hit the track with my hubby for my training run (my half marathon is just over 100 days away!!!!!). I missed out on both. And you know what? I couldn't have cared less.

In this day of technology - email, voicemail, text messaging, twitter, Facebook, Myspace - we actually don't need to TALK to anyone. When you add in long commutes, 50-hour workweeks, kid activities, and just being tired, getting together with friends becomes a challenge. And all of a sudden, your communication with the people you say are very important to you are reduced to forwarded emails, quick voicemails, and the few and far between get-togethers. Weeks go by. Sometimes months. And, in many cases, years pass!!!!

Yesterday, not only did my friends and I "catch up" - you know, those standard rushed questions we try to get through to make us feel like we still have a connection with each other:

• how's the family?
• the kids?
• the job?
• any vacation plans?

We actually had a chance to go beyond the surface and talk about the very personal things we were going through - the very things that drew us together as friends in the first place. We relaxed and forgot about the time. We talked about the good things that were going on in our lives, along with some of the things we were struggling with. We laughed, got choked up, and irritated the hell out of the waitstaff as they kept giving us the side-eye, wondering when we were going to leave.

But we ignored them. We ignored the ringing of our cell phones (including the calls from hubby). We ignored the ding of the blackberry from work. As a matter of fact, the only text that was sent was the one stating that returning to the office was no longer an option! Finally, we got the hint from the restaurant when they started vacuuming around our table (I guess they were getting ready for the dinner crowd)!

It was the best afternoon I'd spent in a long time.

What about you? How's the relationship between you and your close friends? Has it been reduced to short phone calls and promises of getting together, even though you all know it probably won't happen?

Friendship requires the one thing we have all become selfish with. Our time. But as yesterday afternoon showed me. It is always well worth the investment.