April 2016
This month I will be participating in the “Blogging from A-Z Challenge”
What is it?
Blogging every day. It begins on April First with a topic themed on something with the letter A, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until I finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z. The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day.
Divulge
An Experience of Truth
Ross and I have lived in our community for 14 years. It's one of those age-restricted ones. When we were contemplating buying here, the salesperson, Lisa, was hard selling the "Lifestyle".
"There are so many activities," she said.
Continuing on with her sales pitch, she said, "The people living here are so nice. You'll make instant lifelong friends."
At the time, I was a skeptic and cynical. I felt I was still young and these people were so old. Now, when I think back to the arrogance of my attitude, I am embarrassed.
Anyway, 14 years ago, when Lisa mentioned "lifelong" friends, I remember thinking, they will be, at best, short-term lifelong friends.
This time of our life is much different than when we were twenty-something and newly married. Actually, the biggest difference, I guess, is that Ross and I were each married to different people back then.
But, then, yes when I was young, "lifelong" meant a time so far in the future that it was an ungraspable concept.
Now, the foreseeable future is a certainty, evidenced by the number of new next door neighbors we have had in the last fourteen years.
So, now, I will divulge my secret for how I managed to cope with living here in this community of short term lifelong friends.
I didn't make friends. In fact, I boasted about how I mostly kept to myself. I smugly replied to those who asked, "Do you participate in any of the activities?"
"Oh, no, I am not a joiner," I would say.
Anyway, I had heard rumors about cliques and how hard it was to be accepted. So why bother? I thought.
In the last 14 years, life has certainly taken its toll. Particularly the last 10 of those fourteen. There have been many times I wished I had someone to confide in, to commiserate with over a cup of tea.
Perhaps because I am now one of "those" people, who I now empathically describe, not as old, but wise, I regretfully understand that there can be no time constraints placed on the value of comradery and community.
Recently, I began to wonder if it is too late for me to join in.
I can now divulge another secret, I believe I am starting to evolve.
Yes, tomorrow's E word is Evolve.
