Old Friends

When Daniel and I first met, we realized how many mutual friends we had at church. I guess our compatible personalities made way for that (and the fact that all of his friends were girls). The connections went deeper than we knew, however. The people Daniel had hung out with in grade school had been in my Sunday school class all those years ago. A few of the connections got rekindled, since I was still in contact with a couple of the kids that we'd both known.
One person in particular, happened to be a pretty good friend to both of us. We called her Rory. Her family lived in the "missionary house" next to Daniel's parents house, so he'd known her for years. I'd known her since first grade. I think we became official friends at a sleepover/lock in in the forth grade when we stayed up "all night" watching McGee and Me and telling stupid jokes. Ahh, those were good times.
Rory usually lived in Africa, so she was only home every four years. But they were great years when she was home.
This week we got to see Rory again, after eight years. (She had attended our wedding and that was the last we saw of her). She was just as enjoyable now. Probably more so.
It's so refreshing to meet up with an old friend and discover that some things just don't change. Through the years, so many of my friends have changed drastically. They've grown up and thought through their opinions about things, and oftentimes, we've ended up not agreeing anymore, and not really having a lot in common. Some of my closes friends have parted ways with me, and I hate it. I don't hate them or their opinions. I just hate that we aren't as good of friends or friends at all.
A long time ago, Rory's dad told me that he loved living in Africa because you could get used to one way of living, and then it never changed. I would have liked that to be my life, but it hasn't. But at least some things haven't. Rory's great personality and sense of humor and ability to relate with me and Daniel hasn't changed.
[editor's note: I told Rory that I was going to find some old photos and post them, but lucky for her, I didn't feel like digging through old boxes and finding those photos, so... maybe next time].