Jack’s Winning Words 9/27/13
“That’s just the way things go.  We meet people, get to know them, and then they get up and leave us behind.”  (From Animal Crossing: Wild World)  It’s always a sad time when a good friend moves away.  Death is like that, too.  We’ve all had separations.  How have you handled them?  I’ve come to see that many of my friends are people I’ve met because of a move.  The saying is true:  “To have a friend, be a friend.”    ;-)  Jack

FROM LS IN MICHIGAN:  So appropriate I got this this morning  ====JACK:  As I pushed the "send" key, I was wondering in anyone would relate to the message.  Evidently you did.

 FROM HONEST JOHN:  The Social Media allow one to reconnect with old friends...it has been kind of interesting...many of my friends in high school are racists, it appears...easier to relate to those folks on a long distance basis...and discuss innocuous topics.====JACK:  There's a difference between a friend and an acquaintance.  But, I appreciate interacting with people that I know.

 FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  There are always people moving in and out of our lives.  My best friend, Joannie, moved away from us when she was in 8th grade and me in 9th grade.  Her mother was a severe alcoholic and most of the time, Joannie and her sister Pat, lived with us.  She literally was in the crib with me when we were just babies.  Her mom would drink as soon as she came home from work and drink until she passed out.  Many times my parents would go over there and put out kitchen fires because she would put food on the stove and pass out.  Needless to say, Joan and Pat spend most of their lives at our house.  When she moved away, part of my heart went with her.  She moved to Colorado and I seldom hear from her.  I thank God she was across the street while we were growing up.  Unfortunately, she also started the drinking.  Once in awhile we talk but she doesn't call or answer my calls much.====JACK:  There's room on my Prayer List for people like that.  "Not even a sparrow falls to the ground, but that God is aware."

 FROM TARMART REV:  With FB and social media's as this, friends have way of cropping up once again where one can continue the friendship . . . always good to not burn bridges along the way . . . there can always be in store a move back that way sometime in the future.====JACK:  I like the proverbial thought (Proverbs 27:1)..."For you do not know what a day may bring forth."  God has a way of making life an exciting experience. 

FROM BLAZING OAKS:  SO APPROPRIATE FOR ME TODAY...I'M TRAVELING TO MOLINE FOR MY 65TH H.S. REUNION, WHICH WE HAVE EVERY FIVE YEARS.  IT WILL BE THE FIRST WITHOUT MY TWINNER, JAN, AND FOUR OTHERS FROM MY CLOSE FRIENDS' CIRCLE.  AT  MY AGE, DEATH TAKES ITS TOLL, AND LEAVES US BEHIND. BUT WE DO MAKE NEW FRIENDS WHICH ENRICH OUR LIVES, THANK GOODNESS!  AND "WHAT  A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS"!! :-)====JACK:  At reunions like that, I picture what people looked like "before," and then try to fill in the blanks.  First, try it by using a mirror.  I like the hymn, Abide With Me, especially the verse, "Change and decay in all around I see, O thou who changest not, abide with me."  

 FROM MICHIZONA RAY:  I suppose I handle loss or separation as most likely do. I suffer. My level of suffering and its duration are most likely coupled with the depth of my friendship. The more practical question relates to how I make my new friends afterwards, knowing the suffering i will encounter when I am to lose them too! In his book Shadowlands, C.S. Lewis talks about this as he recalls his decision to marry his wife who was dying from cancer, "...the child chooses safety; the man chooses suffering"====JACK:  Most of the time I'm not conscious of making a new friend.  They just sort of evolve.  But I am conscious of losing an old friend.  I like the song that Bob Hope used to sing..."Thanks for the Memory."  I never really paid much attention to the lyrics until I Googled them today.  

 FROM RI IN BOSTON:  Considering our 10 changes of residence since we married, it seems we are among those who "get up and leave [others] behind."  But over those nearly 50 years there are people with whom we have continued to maintain communication to this day, and in many cases have visited them and shared experiences.  Death has caused the separation from some of those good friends.  In other cases the friendship was based on neighborliness, occupation, our children's association, etc. and when those ended the friendship gradually ended.  Sometimes we get a card or letter from "out of nowhere", originating from an obscure past friend who tracked us down and wrote to inquire how we are.  That's a pleasant surprise, and for a brief time it may rekindle the relationship.====JACK:  I'm happy for the stop at Bel Aire.  We had some good get acquainted talks there...and the friendship had continued and expanded. ====RI:  Those years were very special.  I don't think I was ever more connected to my church life than when attending HSC.  You encouraged involvement in church activities as an opportunity, not an obligation.  Despite the distance between us now, I am privileged to still have some dialog with you regularly.

 FROM JE IN MICHIGAN:  Excellent advice!====JACK:  Friendship is a 2-way street.

 FROM TAMPA SHIRL:  Down here in Tampa with Macdill Airforce Base, many of our friends and of our children's friends have moved and new ones come.  Of course, we moved from Moline, to California, to Nassau, to Ann Arbor before coming to here 50 years ago.  There are still friends all over the country.  Since our children went to Stanford,Gettysburg College, the University of Denver. Georgia  Tech, and the University of Miami Medical School, and Law School, we have met many people from all over the world who still come to visit.  Life is wonderful.====JACK:  In spite of distance and the passing of time, "It's a small world, after all....Though the mountains divide and the oceans are wide, it's a small, small world."

FROM BS IN ENGLAND:  I carry all the wonderful friends that I have met over the years in my heart, but some of those that I no longer see as often  as I would like, it's wonderful to keep in contact this way! ====JACK:  John Philip Sousa wrote a march titled, Hands Across the Sea.  The inspiration for it came from the phrase... "A sudden thought strikes me, let us swear eternal friendship."  I called up the march on YouTube and thought of the distance between us...so far, but, yet, so near.