Connections

Connections with family, friends of the past and just an intuitive 'click' when you meet someone ...

My advise is, if you feel it ... pursue it!

I am blessed beyond words to have the friends that I have ... and to have the connections with my family that I feel. It is only in retrospect, that I can see the wisdom of following through with that instinctive 'knowing' when you have met on the same level with another person.

I have a friend that I met when we were in the same Grade 10 gym class. We chatted, connected, got together outside of school and became fast friends. When that semester (and our gym class) ended, our lives went in two separate directions ... until we met by chance on a bus, three or four years later. The connection we felt when we 15 years old was instantly resuscitated and we've remained close and the best of friends ever since.

I have a cousin that has always felt like a sister. We were born just over 2 weeks apart from each other. We finished each others sentences and we connected on every level. When I was nine years old, our family moved and our cousin-connection was maintained through letters and family visits. We went on a holiday together when we were 18. Our contact has ebbed and flowed over the years, but we have never lost touch. Every single time we get together, it is like we pick up from where we last left off and we are off and running again.

I have some friendships that I have held onto from work. I connect on a different level with each one of these friends but there was a 'knowing' that even though our paths crossed by chance, that we were friends at heart. Most work friendships end when the work connection is severed. But not these ... each of us are at a completely different spot in our lives. But the ties of friendship remain strong no matter where we are, what has happened or how long it is has been between visits.

I placed a 'call out' to all of my cousins that lived in the same city a while ago. We stood together in a group at a family gathering, so that someone could take a picture of 'the cousins'. Long after the photo was taken, we hovered and visited. As I looked at the picture and counted the number of us that lived in the same city, I started making some calls. When I suggested that we try to get the local cousins together, the response was an overwhelming "Yes!" We gathered, felt the family connection and strengthened our blood ties. We have gathered a few times since then and each time has been a gift. The cousin connection runs deep.

The family connections that I have felt are amazing. Getting together with my aunts and uncles as I have tried to piece together our family stories has been one of the more frightening things that I've ever done. But the moment that I was sitting down with them, I instantly felt the bond of our shared heritage and a subtle sense of knowing someone, even though we had never sat down and talked before.

A home town reunion rekindled a few more friendships ... a cousin and a childhood friend.

I was fortunate enough to get together with my cousin last winter. Once again, the moment we sat down we had the feeling that we could have talked all night. What was the beginning of a friendship when we were kids, took no more than a second chance to reignite the close feelings of cousin/friend. We both marvelled over the connection ... the friendship ... and the ease of slipping back into our childhood and cousin connections.

This morning, I met up with the friend that I crossed paths with at that reunion 2 and a half years ago. It was another knee-shaking reconnection - every time I feel that inner sense of knowing that I am talking with someone who knows me ... and I know them (before we even know each other), my knees start to shake.

Prior to the home town reunion when our paths last crossed, the last time that we really talked was on the eve of my wedding day - almost 32 years ago. When we met for coffee this morning, it was as if those three decades vanished.

The first time I looked at the time, almost two hours had passed. Two hours in what felt like the blink of an eye. We still had a lot of catching up to do so we managed to squeeze in another hour before each of our lives caught up to us and we had to part ways.

We parted with a knowing feeling of 'we will meet again'. And we may try to draw another friend into the mix. Yet another mutual childhood friend that has criss-crossed into each of our present-day lives independently.

Sometimes, when our paths cross I think it is much more than coincidence. There are some people that are meant to be in our life. When fate hands you a friend from your past, don't gloss over and ignore it.

I feel a guiding hand in my life at times ... a hand that steers me in a direction that I can choose to pursue or ignore. I choose to pursue things a lot more these days. As I've said before, I'm running at a near 100% success rate.

The gift of realizing that some friends, are friends for a lifetime makes makes my knees shake (or is that just the coffee??).