Girl Scouts are smart

I was in the scouts for a few good years. I think I was in longer than is socially acceptable (8th grade...yikes!), so I have a memory or two of time spent selling cookies and earning badges. There was also this song we used to sing that I've recently been thinking about, as some coincidental things have occurred in the ABQ in the past few weeks. The song went something like this:

Make new friends
But keep the old
One is silver
And the other gold
A circle's round
It has no end
That's how long
I want to be your friend

Yes, I know it's weird that I remember that song. But if you think about it, it has some truth. The Girl Scouts know what's up.

A few weeks ago, I received a text from my college coach, Scott, saying that the team was currently at an Albuquerque Wendy's if I wanted to head up there to meet them. Well, out of 20 players I think I still knew about 4 of them (making me feel like a dinosaur) but I went to see the girls that I had played with and the coaches who were still there. So I was really excited, and I walked into Wendy's with what I'm sure was an obscenely large grin. So big, in fact, that several of the players I did not know were probably thinking: "Why is this person so excited to be at Wendy's?" Anyway, there were hugs between me and those I did know, and it just felt so nice to be in their presence again. It was fun to reminisce and laugh and talk about how life had changed in the past two years.

And then yesterday I received a text from another college teammate & friend. Brenna was a senior when I was a freshman at UCCS, so while we didn't play together long, we kept in touch throughout the remainder of my playing days and would meet for the occasional meal at one of our local college eateries: The Omelet Parlor. (YUM!) She was driving through Albuquerque, and would I like to come meet up with her at the hotel? Absolutely. We too reminisced and talked. We discussed what other former players were doing now and we laughed about the "glory days." Before I left to meet Brenna, Mike commented on how weird it was that I was reconnecting with all of these people from my past in Albuquerque. That's when I started thinking about that Girl Scout song.

It was a super fun night, but when I left the hotel, this weird feeling came over me. How was it that I had gone the last two years without keeping in better contact with the people who had been such a huge part of my life all through college? Was I really so grown up and important that I could just put those relationships "on a shelf" and watch them collect dust?

But isn't that how life is? We've all got busy schedules, lives, etc. We're all trying to, as the scouts say, "make new friends" and somehow the ones we've cherished in the past get neglected. After these random occurrences here in Albuquerque, I have decided to give a little more time to "keeping the old." I realize I may be setting myself up for failure as there are quite a few friends from college and from previous assignments in FL & AL whom I'd like to check in with every now and then. But, isn't it better to try than to just let them go? If these Albuquerque rendezvous have taught me anything, its that some friends are very much worth holding onto.

Brenna and me (look at that mane!) on our way to Florida for spring break 2005.