“Are you in Birmingham?”
“Are you in Bham and we’re not hanging out?”
“Excuse me!? The Summit!?!?!”
These are all messages I received after posting my arrival in Birmingham, Alabama on social media this past weekend. I was in town for the wedding of the daughter of my dear friend. The funny thing is, these messages were all from some of my son’s friends from college. I was happy that I got to see one of the three. My husband and I enjoyed lunch with one who is like a son to us.
When we returned home, we had dinner with two of my daughter’s friends. They had been attendants in her wedding back in September. I’ve known these two since they were children.
That is one of the things I enjoy most about having grown children. Their friendships often spill over to the rest of the family. When you see these friends year after year, a closeness develops; friends my son and daughter have known since elementary school to the ones who were their “family” when they were away at college.
These are the ones that I am happy to see in the hallway at church or at the grocery store. They are the ones who will text me funny vacation pictures or crash my daughter’s wedding and add so much fun to the party. These are the ones with a shared history and the subjects of a hundred fun, happy and even sad memories.
This group of young adults scattered across the Southeast are special to me because they are an important part of the lives of my two children. Communicating with them is one more connection to my own.
So here’s to you Andrew, Travis, Garrett, David, Jordan, Ryan, Gheorghe, Alan, Casey, Taylor and Katy! Thanks for being a friend! You are loved.
A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24 WEB
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+18%3A24&version=WEB
Kim Wilbanks 