Making time

I've gotten a lot of news in the past few weeks that have made me re-evaluate some things. It started when I tried to contact a friend from college who lives in Charlotte. I was going to be spending two weeks in Charlotte for work, with a day or two off and I wanted to get together with her and her husband. The letter I got back floored me-

Hey Kevin,
I would have loved to do this, but unfortunately I have surgery scheduled. I was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Clearly I am not doing very well right now, as all I can think about is my 3 year old and 5 mo. Old. Anyway, things have been rough.

I haven't seen her since she was just pregnant with her 3 year old. I was always the person who was great at keeping in touch with everything and making sure that I knew what was going on. I didn't know she was pregnant again and had a second child. Needless to say, I've been trying to keep tabs on her and see how she's doing. I haven't been able to get in touch with her since she had the surgery, but will keep trying.

Next up was finding out that my friend Kristen from high school is moving to Arkansas with her husband because he got a job there. I don't know how I'm going to deal with that. I used to see Kristen almost every day. As we got older and I started traveling more and more, we started to lose touch, but we always managed to know what was going on with each other. We wouldn't see each other for months, yet whenever we saw each other, you'd never know it. The news of her moving to Arkansas really has hit me hard. I still haven't actually talked to her. I know that it'll be tough to choke back the tears when we talk because I'm tearing up now writing this.

All of this has made me realize how I've lost touch with a lot of people that meant something in my life. There was a girl I was friends with a while ago who disappeared off the face of the earth. I did some research and found a new email address for her. I sent her the following email this morning-

Sara-
I've been trying to write this for a long time. I've always wondered where you were and what you were up to. I've wanted to reach out and see how you were doing. I really have no idea what happened. To me it seemed like you were there one minute and gone the next. What finally got me to write was when I found the card you gave me before I left for Pittsburgh. I don't know if you remember that at all, but unfortunately in the end, I did end up with another really good friend. I lived in Pittsburgh until January 2004. Caroline and I both realized that Kristen's wedding actually (it was wedding number 20 in 18 months for us) that would never be us. We were really good friends, but that spark was gone. That said, we both agree that if I had proposed, we would be married now. She's getting married in the beginning of July.

In 2004, I moved back to NJ, living in Jersey City in the waterfront area. I absolutely love the area. It's close to the city, and I can walk anywhere I need to go. I'm currently dating a great woman who is jokingly robbing the cradle. She's 42. Unfortunately she's a Devils fan. She works in TV too. I'm still basically doing the same job that I've always done. I'm traveling all over the place televising sporting events, primarily now for Fox Sports. I do NASCAR from February through June, the MLB All Star Game and Fox's NFL A Game- wherever Joe Buck and Troy Aikman go. This year i'll be the engineer in charge for the Superbowl- my second time for that. I did the Giants superbowl in AZ as well.

Tim is working for another company as an Engineer now. He has 2 more kids. I think both kids from his first marriage are in College now (very scary thought). Jonathan is now married and working for WWE up in Connecticut. Tim (Bartender) is married and is in charge of the new grasshopper in Morristown. He has a baby girl, Saorise, and another on the way. I still email with Mike Murphy occasionally, he's the same. His daughters are all old now, which is scary for me.

I'd really like to meet for dinner or drinks at some point. I don't know where you're living now, so I'll let you pick a place. Although the grasshopper always works :). If you don't want to meet, I understand. I'd really appreciate it if you respond to this though so I know you're ok. It's always bothered me that we just lost touch. You can always call too.

I was disappointed when I got a bounce back stating Diagnostic-code: smtp;550 5.1.1 unknown or illegal alias:

I think it's human nature to want to connect to your past. It's not that I don't like my present or the future, but I don't like losing touch with people, and I fear what I'll miss. I like my friends. I don't want anything to happen to them, and I don't like not knowing what's going on.

I'm going to try my hardest to continue to track down Sara. I'm going to make sure that I make time for my friends, and make sure that I don't lose touch with Kristen, regardless of the distance.