The Communication King

I am a horrible person to have as a friend or relative. Oh, you have a problem, or need a hand, I'll be there... like yesterday. You can count on me to be there. You just can't count on communicating with me.

I'm not sure wht the hell my problem is when it comes to communication. Calling, writing, e-mail, visits... I just don't do them well. It wasn't always like this. Actually, until the past few years, it was hardly ever like this.

Growing up, most of my "close" friends were scattered throughout Wisconsin. At least every other week or so, a letter was mailed. In a few cases, phone calls might be made a couple of times a month. Either way, we were always in touch, and able to work out get togethers.

Now days? Uh... yeah. My mother hardly hears from me on a regular basis. Until this weekend, she hadn't seen or heard from me since Mother's Day. And before that, I think... Easter. I'm not sure. My abilities to keep in touch with the rest of my family aren't much better. I love them all more than you could guess, I just...

Well, I went to a party at one of my old friend's house over the weekend. Growing up, her family lived about 5 hours away from us, but we kept in touch. She and her husband are now only 30-35 minutes away from me. So I visit them any chance I get, right? Nope. It's been a year. I knew I was pushing it, but holy cow! Anyway, as soon as she figured out who I was, I got a great big hug... and then the scolding began in earnest. For the rest of the evening, any time that she or her family had an opportunity to get a dig in on me, they hopped on it. And I would expect nothing less.

So much can happen over the course of the year. Well, yeah, I guess that's obvious. She had a baby boy back in January. Other family news. Her middle son was walking very tentatively, now he's everywhere. I missed alot.

I did get a birth announcement, so I wrote a little something to ease the ass-chewing that I knew was coming my way. But I lost it when my computer croaked. I've found part of what I had scribbled on a shop order, so I posted it anyway. You won't find it in my recent posts. Brayden was born on January 21, so I dated the post for then. Check it out, if you like. I'm going to send her the link, and see if that keeps me from being crucified!

The whole family is a group of great people and I enjoy visiting with them all (when I'm around), but I really enjoy visiting with her father. He said to me, "You know, Joe, friendship doesn't always depend on seeing each other all of the time. Friends can meet after a long time, and pick up their conversation right where they left off. That is a sign of true friendship." It almost could sound hokey, but if you know him, it's not in the least. As a matter of fact, it's been two years since I had seen him, and we picked up right where we were last.

Now, I'm not trying to justify my communication deficiency. I know that I'm horrible at it, and I'm aware that I should work on it, and I'll try. Honest, I will. But it is kinda nice to know that at least one person isn't expecting much from me other than to pick up where we left off.

Posted by That 1 Guy at June 1, 2005 06:30 AM | TrackBack