Meeting Old Friends (and Exes!) Along the Way
Well, well, well... guess what almost happened during my Virginia Beach layover on the way to and from Merritt, NC? Are you sitting down? No? Maybe lean against something for dramatic effect.
I almost met up with my last ex-friend, Lisa! (she never liked being call a “girlfriend”) Yeah, you heard that right. And believe it or not, it would have been a great reunion—no awkward silences, no dramatic violin music in the background. Just two people who have grown, evolved, and, dare I say, matured (though if you know me, that last part is debatable).
Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. On my way down to North Carolina, Lisa was just getting back from Florida and then heading off to visit her son. Not exactly prime reunion conditions. On the way back, I was delayed leaving, which meant an overnight sail that took me right past Virginia Beach—and her.
But here’s the thing—Lisa was amazing to chat with while I sat on my ass in North Carolina this past month. She helped me clear my head, gave me direction, and reminded me to refocus on what really matters. And now? Well, now I have the perfect excuse to sail down to Virginia Beach with the sole intent of visiting her!
A Little Backstory
Lisa and I technically “met” in high school—where my game was so nonexistent that I was too mesmerized by her beauty to even speak to her. Fast-forward a few decades, and we finally got together after both of our spouses had passed. But grief? Grief is a sneaky little beast. It doesn’t hit like a freight train all at once. Instead, you go into survival mode. You fake it till you make it. And then, two or three years later, boom—grief and the reality of what happened pull up a chair and say, “Hey, remember me?”
That’s exactly what happened with Lisa and me. We got together too soon after our losses, leaning on each other when we probably needed more time to figure out who we were as individuals again. It wasn’t meant to last, but it wasn’t meant to be forgotten either.
The Beautiful Part
Lisa is thriving now—fully embracing her independence and absolutely crushing the role of “Super G-Ma” to two adorable grandkids. And me? Well, I now have a solid friend who truly knows me, inside and out. We’ve shared an incredibly intimate past, but now we get to appreciate something even rarer—a deep, meaningful friendship where we can be completely real with each other.
So what’s the takeaway here? Trust in God. Life has a funny way of bringing people back into your orbit when you least expect it. And sometimes, the past isn’t something to run from—it’s something to cherish in a new way.
