  So I was thinking about all the friends I've had throughout my life... And I suddenly realized that all my really good friends have one thing in common. Now, as for really good friends, I only have a handful, 4 maybe 5 but those are the only relationships that have lasted longer than 3 years. And the common thread is that 4 of those relationships have endured long periods of non-communication between my friends and me. My four friends are Jennifer, Chad, Emily and MaryBeth. I've known Chad and Jen the longest, 14 years now. Next comes Mary, we met freshman year in high school, 12 years ago.
And, finally Emily. Em was one of my supervisors at my first post-high school job 7 years ago. As for those long peiods of non-communication, the longest is about 10 years. That was Jen. The first 4 years was because I moved to Oklahoma for high school, the next 4 years was because she moved to Oklahoma to go to college, of course, I had already moved back to California by then, and the last 2 years was because I went through a anti-church phase. But once I came to my senses, we mended our friendship and in the last 2 years, she has become my very best friend, a place I am sure she will keep for the rest of our lives.
Now for Mary... This story is the most hysterical by far. Like I said, we met freshman year in high school. She is the only friend from Oklahoma that I chose to remain in contact with. We have multiple periods of non-communication. The first started less than a year into our friendship and lasted about 18 months.
Neither of us remember why or how but we do remember how it stopped. That was the second day of our junior year, when we realized that there was no possible way to make it through the school year without being friends especially since we were in 5 out 7 classes together. On that day, it was as if the past 18 months hadn't even existed. The second period was three years after I had returned to California. My grandfather had become ill and subsequently passed away. Out of grief, I had to stop talking to Mary because she reminded me of the four years I spent so close to Gramps.
I don't remember how that one ended, I think Mary found me online about a year later. Next would be Chad, we remained in contact through the 4 years I spent in Oklahoma and even through the years of my rebellion. I chose to not talk to him after he asked me out when I was 19. That lasted about 2 years. Needless to say, we never dated, and that is probably why we have remained friends for so many years. Last but not least, Emily.
She moved away fron southern California and I got busy with trying to live the wild life. We spent about 2 years apart. When I finally grew up I reached out to her. She is my oldest friend, somewhere around 10 years my senior, but that has never made a difference in our friendship, well, not after I finally turned 21 anyway. Now we have more in common than before, both divorced moms, but she doesn't know that yet. The point of all this is for someone to see that friendships can remain strong even if the friends don't, or can't, remain in contact.
The promises will be kept. The bonds of a friendship will not be broken... Time passes by so much more quickly than you expect it to. And eventually, you can look back and see this as a great learning experience, a time of growth. 143 4ever!!! :) SMILE :) 
