friendship | organised castle

I went to Melbourne on Saturday and had the absolute pleasure of catching up with these ladies. They are colleagues from my student nurse training and we were barely 20 years old when we last saw each other.

Our lives have taken remarkably divergent paths yet we are bound by a common thread from all those years ago.

This connection occurred because one of our former colleagues took the time to reach out on what was the 50th anniversary of the commencement of our student nurse training. The wonders of social media has meant that some of us have managed to arrange a reunion next month. I am really looking forward to that but in the meantime it was a happy coincidence that we were able to meet up briefly the other day.

Friendships are made through all sorts of encounters during our lives. Some endure and others fade. Some are rekindled in new circumstances, others not so much.

50 years is a long time and we have all matured, changed and been shaped by our experiences and the world around us.

A decluttered house? Meals planned? Clothes washed?

Sometimes it is easy to lose sight of what is really important in our lives. While it is great to be able to meet physical achievements the things that matter most to me are relationships – my friends and family. This has been brought to the forefront of my consciousness recently.

We were able to spend the weekend with Missy in Melbourne which was wonderful. Yesterday I listened while Micky shared some of the challenges she is facing at work. ‘A problem shared is a problem halved’ or so the saying goes.

Finally, tonight the telephone rang as I was about to begin preparing dinner. The sound of the voice of an old friend ensured that dinner was the last thing on my mind for the next 30 minutes while we chatted and the time spent apart just fell away. When I hung up and walked back to the kitchen I realised how refreshed I felt.

I am thankful for the close and meaningful relationships I have with friends and family and cherish them everyday.