Friends: They'll be there for you...

One of the sometimes depressing things about living abroad, particularly as we move into our 5th year away from the UK, is the gnawing sense that friends we've known for years are starting to forget us or drift away through sheer lack of frequent contact. I like to delude myself that life at home continues exactly as it did before we left (mainly because I am not present to witness the changes that inevitably occur as we all move on, grow up, start and end relationships, buy houses, get married, have kids, etc). I am often just as much to blame for not making as much of an effort to keep in contact with those who were once great mates as, to be fair, some of them would probably agree they are to. And I recognise that since it was us who made the break from the UK, perhaps the greater responsibility to keep contact flowing is ours.

But then every now and again I am seriously buoyed by experiences such as the one we had in the Lord Raglan a week or so ago (about which I have been meaning to write something here ever since, if only to encourage those who read these ramblings to feel rightly pleased with themselves). I don't think I am overstating it to say that I was genuinely moved to find that, with a simple bit of last minute texting, practically everyone who was in Wokingham that I would like to still call genuine good friends made the effort to come out and see us on a random weekday night. And for me, it was a truly great night to catch up with everyone.

For those who were there it was probably just another evening out, although many said that they too had not seen some of the other attendees in some time. I was really pleased to have been the catalyst for this rather impromptu little reunion and I left with a big smile on my face knowing that, even despite over 4 years away and less than satisfactory contact with most people during that time, my friends of old are still just as good friends now. It seems like we collectively reached a point at some time years back (who knows when) when we had all known each other for so long that we had become somehow destined to reunite every so often, and in a manner where we can fall straight back into the same mutual comfort in each other's company without having to go through embarassing small talk first.

I was dead proud to call my Wokingham friends 'friends for life', and hope to see them all again soon. Love you guys!

Right, enough gushing. Anyone fancy Saints for the Premiership??