14 years is a long time to learn a lesson
I had a reeeeeeally cool weekend. Liv and I went on Saturday to see a couple of my friends from high school on Saturday, and we had a really good time.
But, let me back up just a bit to tell you a story that will have you going "awwwwwww"...hehehehe The day before we got together, I called Charline to talk to her about our visit, since we were both really excited about it. I also told her (and this is SO cool) that the week of July 4, Liv and I are going to fly to Kansas City to see her family for the week. We're really looking forward to it, and I'm really glad Liv and I will be able to spend a holiday with her family. We don't get to do that much. Anyway, we're excited about it, so I was talking to Charline, and it turns out that that's the same week as her eight-year-old son's birthday. Her son was listening to the conversation -- keep in mind that I have only met him one time before this -- and he started CRYING because I couldn't be there for his birthday! He got on the phone and asked me why I couldn't come, and I told him I was gonna be out of town. He told me he was going to tell his mom to CHANGE the date of his party to a date that I could be there! I had NO idea it meant that much to him that I be there. I don't know what I might have done to make an impression on him when I met him the first time, but he really wants me there. I can't let this guy down.
Anyway, we all got together on Saturday -- me, Liv, Charline, her husband and two kids and my oldest friend in the world, Amy and her little girl. We had a BLAST, and it has meant so much to spend time with them as of late.
While we were there at Charline's, though, I also found out something that made me feel like the worst possible friend on earth. See, back in the day, during our senior year of high school, Charline and I were pretty good friends. When she left the school in the middle of the year to go back to her home in Puerto Rico, we continued to keep in touch for several months afterward via letters and the occasional phone call. After a few months, we lost touch, but for the longest time (until just the other day), I didn't figure out WHY we lost touch. Charline's last letter to me was in February of '94. See, I had gotten with my ex-girlfriend Pamela in November of '93, and I had made the HORRIBLE mistake of making her the focus of my entire life, my entire world. I set a lot of other friendships aside for her. She didn't make me do it -- I know that. It was all me. I fed on the attention she gave me. I was like an addict, in retrospect. Anything that didn't include her, I tossed aside, including Charline. I didn't even realize I had done it like that until Charline said something about it the other night. She told me when the last letter was that she wrote me, and it didn't take long for me to put that together with the fact that Pamela was my whole life at that point. I lost 14 years of time with Charline that could have been SO much different. I could have seen both her kids grow up from birth. We could have helped each other through countless trials through the years. Instead, I let her and her friendship get away.
Never again. I e-mailed Charline today and apologized profusely for what I did all those years ago, even though I know she's put it in the past and I know she still values me and my friendship -- though I can't figure out why. For whatever reason, she wants me in her life and in her kids' lives, and I don't want for one SECOND to take that for granted again.
That whole thing, combined with the fact that I've gotten back in contact with several friends from years gone by in recent weeks, makes me feel a weird mix of emotions. I'm SO glad to be back in touch with these people, but why did I ever let them get away to begin with? Granted, I wasn't as close with some of these people as I was with Charline back in the day, but still.... Oh well. Hopefully, I've learned a lesson out of this whole thing and won't be that way again toward the people in my life who I cherish SO much.
If you're reading this, this means you. It also means some others who might not be reading this, but it definitely includes those who are.
With that said, I need to shut up and get myself home. Today was a long day, and I'd really like to get some of the sleep back that I missed out on last night. More later, yall..
But, let me back up just a bit to tell you a story that will have you going "awwwwwww"...hehehehe The day before we got together, I called Charline to talk to her about our visit, since we were both really excited about it. I also told her (and this is SO cool) that the week of July 4, Liv and I are going to fly to Kansas City to see her family for the week. We're really looking forward to it, and I'm really glad Liv and I will be able to spend a holiday with her family. We don't get to do that much. Anyway, we're excited about it, so I was talking to Charline, and it turns out that that's the same week as her eight-year-old son's birthday. Her son was listening to the conversation -- keep in mind that I have only met him one time before this -- and he started CRYING because I couldn't be there for his birthday! He got on the phone and asked me why I couldn't come, and I told him I was gonna be out of town. He told me he was going to tell his mom to CHANGE the date of his party to a date that I could be there! I had NO idea it meant that much to him that I be there. I don't know what I might have done to make an impression on him when I met him the first time, but he really wants me there. I can't let this guy down.
Anyway, we all got together on Saturday -- me, Liv, Charline, her husband and two kids and my oldest friend in the world, Amy and her little girl. We had a BLAST, and it has meant so much to spend time with them as of late.
While we were there at Charline's, though, I also found out something that made me feel like the worst possible friend on earth. See, back in the day, during our senior year of high school, Charline and I were pretty good friends. When she left the school in the middle of the year to go back to her home in Puerto Rico, we continued to keep in touch for several months afterward via letters and the occasional phone call. After a few months, we lost touch, but for the longest time (until just the other day), I didn't figure out WHY we lost touch. Charline's last letter to me was in February of '94. See, I had gotten with my ex-girlfriend Pamela in November of '93, and I had made the HORRIBLE mistake of making her the focus of my entire life, my entire world. I set a lot of other friendships aside for her. She didn't make me do it -- I know that. It was all me. I fed on the attention she gave me. I was like an addict, in retrospect. Anything that didn't include her, I tossed aside, including Charline. I didn't even realize I had done it like that until Charline said something about it the other night. She told me when the last letter was that she wrote me, and it didn't take long for me to put that together with the fact that Pamela was my whole life at that point. I lost 14 years of time with Charline that could have been SO much different. I could have seen both her kids grow up from birth. We could have helped each other through countless trials through the years. Instead, I let her and her friendship get away.
Never again. I e-mailed Charline today and apologized profusely for what I did all those years ago, even though I know she's put it in the past and I know she still values me and my friendship -- though I can't figure out why. For whatever reason, she wants me in her life and in her kids' lives, and I don't want for one SECOND to take that for granted again.
That whole thing, combined with the fact that I've gotten back in contact with several friends from years gone by in recent weeks, makes me feel a weird mix of emotions. I'm SO glad to be back in touch with these people, but why did I ever let them get away to begin with? Granted, I wasn't as close with some of these people as I was with Charline back in the day, but still.... Oh well. Hopefully, I've learned a lesson out of this whole thing and won't be that way again toward the people in my life who I cherish SO much.
If you're reading this, this means you. It also means some others who might not be reading this, but it definitely includes those who are.
With that said, I need to shut up and get myself home. Today was a long day, and I'd really like to get some of the sleep back that I missed out on last night. More later, yall..