Friendship – Be the Magic

I’m not even sure how to start this. We are moving out of state. As a lot of you know, this means a new journey for us. Very exciting. And it means our relationship with our friends will adjust. But the relationships will continue to grow stronger!

The past few weeks have been crazy. Crazy is actually putting it mildly. Insane may be a better word. The next month will continue with the insanity but hopefully after that it will calm a bit. Throughout this insanity, our friends have been there every step of the way.

What is the definition of friendship? I looked it up and found the following definitions: -a state of mutual trust and support between allied nations -a relationship of mutual affection between people -a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association -has been studied in academic fields such as communication, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and philosophy

So if I look at each of the descriptions of a friend, we apparently have the best of the best!

A state of mutual trust and support between allied nations. Anyone that knows Jim, knows he is kind of picky about his “stuff”. However, he continues to be out of town when the heavy packing needs to be done. Coincidence? I’m not sure. The last time we moved he was in Israel. This time he was in Rhode Island…. at least he is getting closer. Anyway, back to the point. I set up a packing party with the few people I knew Jim would trust. Not everyone could make it but I had Mike, Jill, Chuck and Sue. They were amazing. The funny story of the evening was, I had to let Sue be in charge of the kitchen. Earlier in the week I had been discussing my plan with Jim and he finally stopped and said, “Just let Sue take care of the kitchen”. We all laughed about it but Sue does know her kitchens 🙂 We still gave Jim trouble about it.

Sue giving instructions on “kitchen packing”.

A relationship of mutual affection between people – Well I will tell you , there is a lot of mutual affection going on! These people love us and are willing to help us and we love them and are willing to ask for help and know they will be there if they can!

A stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association. – Well these friends of ours are more than an association for sure. A week or so ago, I went to Korey and Anna’s. Anna made sure we had uninterrupted time for just the two of us to catch up. That means a lot to me. She has an extremely full life with a high pressure job, a husband and four children. Each of these are extremely important to her. But so am I. Korey joined us after a bit. Then the kids joined. It was an amazing evening. Their farm, Farwig Farm, holds a very special place in my heart. As I was pulling up at the beginning of the evening I took a photo. I always love entering the farm.

Has been studied in academic fields such as communication, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and philosophy – The study of friendship has to be an amazing topic to research. How do you describe everything a friend means to you. You can’t.

Without our friends, I’m not sure who we would be. Jim and I are moving to Nashville. He is 99% living there. I moved one of our cats (Shelby) to Nashville this week. Felix (our baby boy cat) will move this weekend. I am living …….. well, I am living all over the place. I live in Nashville part time but because I still have a job in St. Louis through the first part of September, I still live in St. Louis part time.

The problem is, we no longer have a home. The house in Union closes on Friday. Everything is out of the house with the exception of a few boxes and Felix. So where am I you ask.. I am with friends. Wonderful friends that are allowing me to stay with them. No pressure to do anything other than just stay there and relax. I love friends!

I will say however, I am quite stressed. Moving Shelby to Nashville was not fun. She does not like car rides. She was panting and breathing fast the entire way and I was so worried. Once we got to our temporary house in Nashville, she immediately found Jim’s scent, climbed under his side of the bed and stayed there for quite a while. She finally came out and began exploring. By the time I left this morning she was much better.

Today, I drove back from Nashville. I had to go to the Union house to continue packing those last minute things and more importantly, make sure Felix was okay. He was fine. My day was long. I worked from our Nashville office until 12:30, drove 5 1/2 hours to Union. Cleaned and packed the Union house and then came home. Home to Chuck and Sue’s. They have a home that is welcoming to all. I feel at home.

So in conclusion, thank you to all of our friends who are a part of our journey. This is a huge leap for us and we couldn’t do it without all of the support from you! Friendship is not something you can define. You feel it. You hear it. You see it. But you can’t describe it.

Love to all. May you experience the true friendships you deserve.