​
JANINE WALKER CAFFREY - EDUCATION INNOVATION
  • Lexplore
  • Who is Janine?
  • The Today Show
  • Interviews
  • Peak Learning Time
  • Contact

Ya Gotta Have Friends

1/16/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
This weekend I will be spending some time with some very seasoned friends. These are women I have known since early adolescence who know me in a way others don't. We don't see each other often, but make it a point to get together once or twice a year. In between we talk on the phone and do lots of group texts. If you saw our texts, you may think that they are from teenage girls, complete with silly jokes and funny photos. There is a way of interacting that friends from long ago have. It somehow gets frozen in time. No matter how long we are apart, we fall right back into our old patterns and reactions as soon as we see each other. 

There is an honesty from these friends that I have come to rely on. If one of us starts to take herself or life too seriously, the others quickly get her in line. If one of us is hurting, the others help to heal her wounds. When we are struggling with life decisions, we can count on blunt feedback that would be difficult to get from others. But mostly we laugh. Hard. This continues the entire time we are together. There is a shorthand humor among us that cannot be recreated with newer, less seasoned friends. This type of humor can only come through a long history of sharing life's challenges and joys, without judgment. 

Friends give us something different than our families give us. I am not sure exactly how to describe it, but feel very grateful to have it. If you are lucky enough to have friends like this, be sure to hang on to them. 


1 Comment
ImInLA
2/10/2014 10:15:09 am

Thank you for this! It's right on time and very helpful to see that others feel this way. Hope you had a blast w/your best buds. Take care!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Janine Walker Caffrey writes about reading, education and a few other topics related to happiness and life in general.

    Archives

    June 2016
    May 2016
    November 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    September 2013
    May 2012
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009

    Categories

    All
    Achievement Gap
    Adult Learning
    Arts
    Civil Rights
    Common Core
    Differentiation
    Discipline
    Federal Aid
    Grand Parenting
    Happiness
    Lead By Example
    Length Of School Year
    Middle School
    Parent Engagement
    Parenting
    Personalized Learning
    Phonemic Awareness
    Phonics
    Reading
    Reading Horizons
    School Finance
    School Reform
    School Spending
    Social Justice
    Special Education
    Student Engagement
    Summer Slide
    Suspension
    Teaching
    Technology
    Tiger Mom
    Title IX
    Traffic Light

    RSS Feed