Take time to see those friends you promised you would

Saying goodbye to a longtime good friend at a Celebration of Life service or funeral is often harder than we anticipate. I experienced that this week after a good friend from college died.
    I had just seen him three weeks earlier at his own mother’s funeral. I was thankful this week I took the time then to go to her service. Who knew then it would be the last time I’d see my college friend? I hadn’t known how advanced his cancer had become.
    After hearing that he had died, I communicated with several of my former college roommates from Omaha, all who knew him well, too. We shared how much fun all of us had in those carefree college years, and he was right in the middle of most of it.  All of us roommates were from Omaha, except one who called Central City home. I wondered if she had heard about him.
    Even though she and I had corresponded every Christmas, somehow I didn’t have her contact information in Central City. It had been years since seeing her, and I always promised, “We have to get together.”
    So, I googled her name, hoping for an address or possible Facebook post to pop up. But, instead, what popped onto my screen was her obituary from the Grand Island newspaper. She had died in May.
    After shedding some tears, it made me upset with myself that I hadn’t taken the time to pull off I-80 once in awhile when heading east and stop to see her in Central City, not far off the interstate, like I had promised I would. What would losing a couple hours off my schedule really affect?
    There is a lesson here. Relationships have to be maintained and worked on, just like anything else worth having is. And that takes time and maybe some inconvenience.
    It’s not the same as sending a faceless text or posting a hello on Facebook. Especially after COVID-19 and all the misguided emphasis on staying locked up and away from our loved ones, we need to get back out with our family and friends.
    Don’t find yourself saying, “I wish I’d taken the time to see him/her again.” Even a phone call where you can hear each others’ voices is better than social media.
    Let those people you love know what they mean to you. Now, more than ever, and especially after the past year, just do it.