Disappearing Friends

Oddly enough, making a move thousands of miles away means I seem to be losing friends left and right. Well, not so much losing friends as people I know who were in contact with me electronically have dropped off the map. Or perhaps, just dropped off the FB radar. Which - in this day and age -is probably the same as severing all ties, right?

I could take it personally, or hunt through my friend's list, trying to figure out who is was that is gone but I don't have the time and energy for that. I am not being lazy - I am being realistic. Things like finding a job, organizing my life in the States, or simply making time to have a girly night with my best friend ever is the sort of thing that is on my mind at the moment. Not which person is not interested in being in touch now that I am living far away, in a strange land of strange customs (really? no 'zed'????).

But the other thing about this situation is that I don't feel threatened or anyway put out by this. It is simple: I have spent almost thirty years getting to a point where I am not confusing things like true friendship with something more fleeting. I have friends who I have not spoken to in years, and yet, we pick up as though it has not been more than a hour that we've been apart. There are friends I know I can count on to always be looking out for me, to be there for me, no matter where or when I need them. And they know I will always be there for them as well. And those are the friends that matter; I would be more concerned if one of those friends had decided that I was not worth knowing anymore. I would wonder what I had done and try to repair things if I had done a wrong.

But the fleeting relationships? Sure, they make life more interesting and increases my social circle. More people to hang out, with more to chat to, and some really cool people to find out more about. But in the end, when either that person or I are in our beds (separately, I might add as I see those eyebrows raising), I am not going to miss their friendship or think how lucky I am to have them in my life. That I save for the people that have proven themselves to be there for me, through the bad times and that good. I have very few of those friends, but thankfully, I know they will never leave my side or sight. And I hope that I may always be so lucky to make more friends like that throughout my life, even if few and far between.