25 Years, 6 Days, 6 Goals

This Thursday yours truly turns 25. Now to some of (those geezerly 28 year olds) I may seem just a baby, but to me 25 seems like a pretty big deal. For one, my insurance is going down now if that's not an adult reason to party, I don't know what is. This Thursday's birthday also makes me excited (and a little bummed) because it marks a quarter-century of my life on planet earth. I feel like I've done pretty well, but I could always do better. That's what this blog series is about, laying out goals for myself points to focus on in the next few months and years.

6. Make more of an effort to maintain old friendships. -- I've had the best friends you could ask for over the years, and as our paths have separated, I haven't always stayed in touch like I should. I'll give you four examples of friendships and the different ways I've handled them so far.

Darren -- my oldest friend, Darren and I have known each other since we were born. We went to school together, started college together, and then we went our separate ways. He lives all of thirty minutes away and yet I've seen him maybe four times in the past year. We hardly ever speak on the phone even though I still regard him as one of my best friends and I hope he feels the same way.

Amanda -- my closest girl friend, Amanda and I were roommates early in our college careers and were inseparable for quite a while. She moved to Arizona in our third year of college and for the first couple of years she was out there months would go by without us speaking. I've been working hard lately to reconnect, and we are enjoying a lot of phone conversations lately, and there's even talk that she might move back this way in the next year or two.

Walker -- another college buddy, Walker was in the same group as Amanda and I. He even got a summer job, selling cars with him during my second summer at Tech. After that (and especially after Amanda moved away) we lost touch. Even though we lived (and still do) in the same town. Over the past few months, he and I have built our friendship back up trying to make time at least once a week to hang out.

Richard -- my best friend, Richard made (not one but) two life changing decisions in a matter of three months. He got married (to a lovely friend of ours, Allie) and joined the Army. Now he and Allie are stationed in Germany for at least the next two years. We talk (occasionally) by email, and over MySpace, but it's hard not having him around all the time. When his tour of duty is over, he and Allie are planning on coming back to the states and we (Ella, me, Richard and Allie) hope we'll be close enough to spend time with each other again.

I reread today the article that was the basis for that song about six or seven years ago, "Wear Sunscreen," the fake commencement speech. Here's a line from that article:

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

That's the way I feel about these friends (and several others like them). I'm trying very hard to not loose touch with the people I'd like to know years from now, and be able to say they knew me "back when."