Road trips and friends

The smell of beef stew simmering in my kitchen permeates through my apartment, making me nostalgic for a moment for the beef stew my mum makes.

This has been a wonderful weekend with a friend I have not seen in years. For that matter it seems this month is all about friendship, even if it resulted in having let go of some friends.

A friend from my childhood had posted a picture on Facebook of a bunch of us when we were kids, maybe that is what triggered all the nostalgia.

Blast from the past

Anyway, back to the present.

I love long drives, maybe because I typically don’t drive too far for anything. This weekend I decided to head out to see a friend I have not seen in a while. The music blaring and me attempting to sing along, even laughing at my singing was a great way to start the weekend and 4-hour drive.

Between sips of my coffee and the snacks I have on hand for road trips, driving through streets lined with trees changing color, cotton fields and a few abandoned buildings is an ideal time to reflect and ponder on things. Since this month seems to be about friendship, why not reflect on past and present friendships.

Abandoned building

 

There are people you talk to everyday and those you talk to once a week and then some friends you talk to once a month maybe. Despite all that, you know that if you needed something you could call them and pick up the pieces where you left off. The friend I was off to see was one I had not seen in a while, because life kept getting in our way of trying to catch up.

While I was there, we spent hours talking and laughing late into the nights, sharing different stories about life, love and of course friendships.

The drive back home after a wonderful weekend seemed even longer. My mind just wandering back and forth about the various friendships that I have and how some have survived the test of time and others have withered and wilted away.

Despite the 4-hour drive back, I head home with a craving for comfort food and beef stew is what brings me comfort. I unpack my bags and head straight to the kitchen to start making the beef stew.

This weekend was a 4 hour drive to catch up with a friend.  Next weekend will be a flight cross-country to run 13.1 miles and see my best friends cheering me when I get to the finish line.

As I get older, maybe I am getting pickier about people I embrace into my life or maybe it is the horrendous friend experience early this year (stay tuned for that post soon) that makes me that way.

Either way,  time has moved on and I’ve grown to understand that most people are generally decent people and that you will always find a bad apple among them but that does not mean that they are all bad. So if you have good friends, embrace and cherish that friendship and be a good friend in return.