Homesick

11/24/2015

Recently, I went home for the weekend to attend a friends wedding and left feeling homesick. I've only been gone four months but everyone carries on as if we never left. My friends have continued their shenanigans, my family continues to spend time together, and my brother informed me he found a new best friend. Punch to the gut. Those 24 hours made me long to slide back into the everyday life we had in Fort Worth. It was good. We were happy. Now here we are in Chattanooga and I'm, well, friendless. Maybe I am being a bit melodramatic, after all we do love Chattanooga, but being surrounded by the people I love most made me realize I'm lonely.

While delving into my friendship plight, I stumbled across this Q&A and found myself laughing in agreement. Maybe I should cut myself some slack, realize there are lots of people in my situation, lower my standards, and just be.

I'm curious to know how people makes friends as they get older. If you have a story or some advice let me know.

"As you get older, you notice that some people do eventually shut the world out, and other people, the ones who really know how to live, open themselves up and keep meeting new people. My mother, who is 72, has always had a small handful of close friends, and she never went out of her way to meet new people. But then she retired, and her boyfriend died, and one of her lifelong friends died, and after that her dog died. Can you fucking imagine? Being old is a motherfucker.

But then, one day, she made two new friends in her neighborhood. Now they go walking together every morning. Sometimes one of them says outrageous, unbelievable things. Sometimes the other one repeats herself. They are not perfect. But they walk and check up on each other and make dinner for each other, drinking cocktails on the back patio together on a warm late-summer evening.


This life is not perfect. This world is not a perfect place. Sometimes it's nice to sip a drink, and repeat yourself, among people who aren't perfect, and don't expect you to be perfect either. Aim low, open your heart, and let them in."

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