Long Distance Payoff

I've been writing for this blog about long distance friendship with Emily for over a year now. It's been great fun and a wonderful way to stay in closer contact with Emily and others. But after all this time, I start to have some doubts. My life feels rather overwhelming much of the time. Is cultivating this discipline to invest in long distance friendships really worth making such a high priority? 

My recent visit to Houston gave me a resounding "YES!" in response to that question. If you read all our posts, you've noticed me mention a long distance friend of mine from middle/high school, Libby [check out here blog over here]. By some miracle, we managed to be visiting Houston at the same time, both traveling with our toddlers alone. We only overlapped for a few days, but found a way to meet up in that tight window. It usually completely overwhelms me to think of trying to see friends amidst the millions of family events that always spring up while we're in town, but Libby's reciprocal efforts helped us overcome the challenge. 

The moment we saw each other, it truly felt as if we had been having play dates every week. But as we reflected on the last time we'd seen each other in person, we realized it had been over seven years. Since we'd seen each other last, we had both gotten married, both seen our husbands through PhD programs, both seen our husbands through the ominous academic job search, both moved cross country, and both delivered beautiful baby girls through quasi-traumatic c-sections. 

Everything had changed. And yet it felt as if the growth of our friendship had never skipped a beat. Through all that change, our long distance efforts to support one another through life paid off in the quiet comfort we enjoyed that day in that hot hot park with our girls. Not all friendships are like this, there's often awkwardness when you first see someone after a long time apart, and I don't think anything is wrong with that. AND, I was really grateful to find a friend in Houston who's traveled such a similar road and whose path I could cross with such joy. It was truly uplifting. Long distance friendships, such as this, are such a sweet gift. 

Somewhat tangentially, and mostly random, a few weeks ago, I found myself sharing a really sweet and from my perspective, photogenic moment with Sofia. My heart ached at the idea that there would be nothing but this feeling in my memory to preserve that instant. I thought to myself, "Man, the President's family is so lucky. I bet they have photographers swarming around them all the time capturing every moment like this for them." Well, after my dad gave Sofia and I a ride to this little play date with Libby and her little girl, he stayed on and took a few pictures before running his own errands. I may not have mentioned here recently how my father was a professional photographer during my whole upbringing. In other words, we got our very own personal paparazzi. Wish granted! The shots of just the girls are mine, but I am so thankful to "Big Papa," as Sofia calls him, for preserving a snapshot of Libby's and my brief but precious time together.  

photo by: Craig Stewart

photo by: Craig Stewart