In a previous blog entry called "Staying in Place," I wrote about a "Come-to-Jesus" meeting that went something like this...
"You will stay in place," she said, pointing at me before slapping my face. Without warning, she turned into the exorcist. Her voice raised and terrifying "The Power of Christ compels you to stay here where you belong..."
Rubbing my aching cheek, I struggled to get away, but she pushed me back in my chair. "OK, I will... I will..."
She remained stoic in her stares. Her eyelids unblinking. Her eyes glaring like she was trying to bore holes in me. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU..."
"I will... I promise..." I started crying. "I promise... I swear I will stay..."
Despite my cries of desperation, she pulled me out of the chair and pushed me onto to the floor. "SAY IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT..." She hovered over me, howling.
I pulled myself into the fetal position. "OK... I WILL..." I shouted those words over several times, before she backed off in the victory pose.
"Damn straight you will..."
OK, I have to admit I have an overactive imagination. It wasn't quit like that, but it felt like it. And wasn't it more exciting to read.
My meeting was necessary. I needed it. We covered a lot of ground. In my previous blog post, I wrote about our conversation about staying here in the Midwest and building a life based on what I already have, but we also talked about other topics. With possible home ownership in the near future, I feel like I've finally weighed anchor. Of course, age played a part, too.
One topic we discussed was friends. Personally, I think I have a diverse group of friends who like me just the way I am. We talked about each one and what they mean to me in my life, but it also became clear that some people that I mentioned really aren't friends. They are acquaintances. It was a poignant conversation about the difference between the two. Some people that I called friends weren't really friends.
Creating meaningful friendships is important to me. I like the ones that come naturally, when you've got common interests and the conversation rolls along without the seven-minute pauses, but yet enough diversity to learn and grow from each other. Currently, I've made some new friends, whom I've got to know one on one, and they seem to be interested in me.
I remember when my Mother died. The funeral home was packed for the viewing and the services. The funeral home workers were scrambling to get more chairs in the back. From the front row, I recall turning to look out at the crowd of sad faces and thinking "My Mother's friends." She was truly lucky to have had so many of them. My Father's funeral didn't bring as many, but it was a one-day service and some couldn't come. But regardless, I realized how important friends are.
I just hope someday, when I laid out, that I have as many friends as my parents did. And hopefully, that won't be for another forty or fifty years!
CSM
"You will stay in place," she said, pointing at me before slapping my face. Without warning, she turned into the exorcist. Her voice raised and terrifying "The Power of Christ compels you to stay here where you belong..."
Rubbing my aching cheek, I struggled to get away, but she pushed me back in my chair. "OK, I will... I will..."
She remained stoic in her stares. Her eyelids unblinking. Her eyes glaring like she was trying to bore holes in me. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU..."
"I will... I promise..." I started crying. "I promise... I swear I will stay..."
Despite my cries of desperation, she pulled me out of the chair and pushed me onto to the floor. "SAY IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT..." She hovered over me, howling.
I pulled myself into the fetal position. "OK... I WILL..." I shouted those words over several times, before she backed off in the victory pose.
"Damn straight you will..."
OK, I have to admit I have an overactive imagination. It wasn't quit like that, but it felt like it. And wasn't it more exciting to read.
My meeting was necessary. I needed it. We covered a lot of ground. In my previous blog post, I wrote about our conversation about staying here in the Midwest and building a life based on what I already have, but we also talked about other topics. With possible home ownership in the near future, I feel like I've finally weighed anchor. Of course, age played a part, too.
One topic we discussed was friends. Personally, I think I have a diverse group of friends who like me just the way I am. We talked about each one and what they mean to me in my life, but it also became clear that some people that I mentioned really aren't friends. They are acquaintances. It was a poignant conversation about the difference between the two. Some people that I called friends weren't really friends.
Creating meaningful friendships is important to me. I like the ones that come naturally, when you've got common interests and the conversation rolls along without the seven-minute pauses, but yet enough diversity to learn and grow from each other. Currently, I've made some new friends, whom I've got to know one on one, and they seem to be interested in me.
I remember when my Mother died. The funeral home was packed for the viewing and the services. The funeral home workers were scrambling to get more chairs in the back. From the front row, I recall turning to look out at the crowd of sad faces and thinking "My Mother's friends." She was truly lucky to have had so many of them. My Father's funeral didn't bring as many, but it was a one-day service and some couldn't come. But regardless, I realized how important friends are.
I just hope someday, when I laid out, that I have as many friends as my parents did. And hopefully, that won't be for another forty or fifty years!
CSM
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