Call my friends more often.

Since moving to Cape Town I have remained in contact with my friends mainlu via sms/text. Now that we have a land line I would like to call at least 2 friends a month and catch up… of course its much cheaper if they also have a landline but I shouldn’t let this be a hindrance.

I’ve actually been doing a little more of this lately.

I’ve got another high school get-together coming up and I’ve been trying to find some people. Email works, so does Face Book, but I’ve made a few calls, hoping to pry open memories. A little conversation goes a long way.

Sometimes the old-fashioned way of connecting is still the best.

Called up my best friend. Hadn’t spoken to him in 3 months (ever since he temporarily moved to Dubai). couldn’t talk too long but have told him that I would be calling back on Friday..

Called one of my friends today

I have talked to my brother twice in the past few weeks and I just called him today! he didnt answer but still, i remembered!

she is one of my close friends. she usually calls me on average either two or three days. and i rarely call her unless its calling her back. so we made a deal that on even days she calls me and on odd numbered days i will call her.

today was an odd numbered day and i called her! yay! i only got her answering machine, but i did it!

The other day on the way home from work, I pulled out my cell and began scrolling – who to call? I don’t have a long commute – about 20 minutes – but it seemed like a good time to reach out and touch someone (do they say that anymore?).

I called a high school friend (I’m still in touch with quite a few). She wasn’t home so I left her a message, just saying hi.

She called me that night. She proceeded to tell me her older (by 15 years) was going in for heart surgery the next day at a hospital near me. Oh my! My brother-in-law is a Physician’s Assistant, working in the Cardiac wing of the same hospital.

After getting off the phone, I called him. He checked the schedule and coincidently, is scheduled to care for her sister. Small world! I gave him my friend’s cell number.

A day later, my friend IM’d me to say my brother-in-law checked in with her twice during the surgery, and after in recovery. She said he was great.

Then she thanked me. “For what?”, I said, “I didn’t do anything”. She said that by calling her, I ended up helping her get through a very difficult day. By hooking her up with my brother-in-law, she had a “regular” person to explain things to her and get her answers, relieving much of her concern and worry.

All from 1 phone call.

Last night, I got home late from work, was rushing to make dinner so I could go see my folks before running out for a meeting. In the midst of this, the phone rang. I didn’t think, just picked it up.

It was one of my friends I left a message for the other day. She told me how happy she was to have received my message (that was nice to hear). She then filled me in on her life – she’s a teacher and is having “qualification” issues at school, her husband is on disability, she has a teenage daughter (‘nuff said) and a mom with Alzheimers (ditto).

I just listened. Clearly, she needed to talk. When she was done, she apologized profusely for monopolizing the conversation. I just laughed and said something corny like “that’s what friends are for”. But when I got off the phone, I thought about that corny expression. It’s true. Like I said when I added this goal, in order to have friends, I need to be a friend.
Some day, I may be the one that needs to monopolize the conversation.

Last night, I called a friend I haven’t seen since May. Or at least dialed the number….I got her voice mail.
OK, no biggee, let’s call someone else. I found the number for a friend I haven’t seen since February. Nope, got her voice mail too.
A little frustrated. I was all geared up to chat, to catch up…then nothing. Oh well…
Funny…but I went on 43T to get my “conversation” fix!

Last weekend, I went to Atlantic City for a little R & R. While there, I called 2 friends that live down there who I hadn’t spoken to for more than 1 year. (I used to live ‘down south’ too)

For one, I got her machine and left a miss-you message. For the other, I had called her the week prior and we made plans to meet at the casino where I was staying. Conicidently, she’d planned to be there Sunday afternoon also. Unfortunately, despite our advance planning, our timing was off and we never hooked up. We were both disappointed but at least we had a chance to catch up by phone.

Next time, we’ll be sure to make time for a face-to-face.