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| Paul pulls up anchor on s/v Sonic Boom |
In the past year or so I have made some self discoveries about myself. Not all of them are particularly positive. And if you ask me, it's rather late in life give my age. In other words, you would think I would know these things about myself by now.
Sigh. I blame protection of a fragile ego.
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s/v Sonic Boom heading out
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One painful discovery is that I do not do a very good job of hanging on to really close friends. Don't get me wrong, I have friends and I even have close friends. But I have also lost complete contact with several close friends as well. Is that weird? It didn't seem weird at all (to me) until recently....see....late in life discovery. Now it seems sort of weird. At the very least, it's tough.
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Farewell s/v Sonic Boom
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I know a woman who meets
monthly with a group of girlfriends from high school.
High school! Now I am not saying I
need or even
want that. Actually I don't! Still, complete lost of contact is....sad. The same protection of ego has not allowed me to explore any further to discover the why, how and such. I have my suspicions (it's ME) but just like that dark closet in our childhoods, sometimes it's scary to open the door and go inside.
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Sailing Farewell to s/v Terrapin Baxter, Kala, Molly
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One theory I have is that subconsciously I have been prepping for this phase of my life. As cruisers we meet lots of people. That has been said many times before by cruisers that have gone before us, but it bares repeating here for this blog posting. Friendships are formed very quickly while cruising, much faster than on land. Often these friendships are very tight while together. Nothing bonds people like sharing a good Gulf Steam thrashing or a couple of shared days in someone's bilge trying to help fix a major boat issue. Then just as quickly as we came together, we depart, sailing in different directions on the horizon. Some of these new cruising friends we continue to meet up with in various anchorages as we venture along driven by weather patterns and cruising locales. It is after all, a very, very small community when sailing despite the miles. However, other new friends set off for much more distant shores - an Atlantic crossing, to the ABC's, through the Panama Canal or even back to the states and
gasp.....land. We don't know when or even IF we will see these friends again. The Internet, email, social media, Skype/FaceTime can help us stay in touch, however, it's just not the same.
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Surprise stateside visit with s/v Amaris - Sean, Tom, Stephen
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Everyone deals with it differently. For me, as the time draws near for someone to depart or for us to depart, I start mentally preparing, gathering strength and toughening myself up emotionally. I focus on the excitement of coming adventure whether it is theirs, ours, or both, as well as all the prep that comes with departing. Finally, I chose to believe it is
Farewell (for now)
vs
Good-bye. This small difference in terminology makes a huge difference inside my head. I tell myself that somewhere, somehow, we will see these dear friends again. This keeps me from becoming too emotional and sad.
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| Farewell Mike on s/v Right Turn - we enjoyed our time together SO much |
The same is true for land friends.
