Each day I find my life touched in a beautiful way by a friend. Sometimes I have made friends who have rolled gently into my life and found a home in my heart, only to have them move on and sail away on the next retreating wave.

How long does one need to know someone before they earn the title of “friend”?

“Is it the way someone behaves or acts that makes a bond of friendship, rather than the time of contact?”

“Do we need to keep in touch with all friends we have made?”

“If you have known a friend for a long time does that necessarily make them your best or most treasured friend?”

I am very privileged to have made many friends overtime in the many places where I have lived, worked, socialized, and played. Some of my strongest connections have been very short lived and were with people I do not expect to cross paths with again. Some friends I have lost touch with because of my moves and theirs, and I no longer have a contact for them. Some friends I have managed to maintain contact with, and find that it does not matter how much time there has been between catching up with them, our bond of friendship has remained and stood the test of time.

As I move forward into this next book of my life, to live aboard a boat and become a cruiser I find it comforting to realize that friends do come in many forms and that the shortest relationships can be just as endearing and important as the longest. Friends can be found everywhere. Itinerants can have friends, and be good friends too.

At present I am living in Chula Vista Marina. At this time last year I was closing down our house in Tucson and preparing it for rental. In Tucson I have some well-established friends whom I was very sad to be moving away from; some of whom I regret not having had time to get to know better and spend more time with. In the Chula Vista marina and the RV park the ebb and flow of friendship has  blessed me with an eclectic group of fun-loving, caring, and interesting friends. Here I would like to share with you and anecdote about one of these friends.

The Story of Joanie

I have been attending water aerobics frequently, along with any activity available that helps me make social contacts. At the water aerobics class, as you may have guessed, the numbers attending each day wax and wane. This is where I met Joanie. Joanie is a “snowbird” who comes from a colder place somewhere up north to be in warmer Chula Vista for the winter. I never found out exactly where she came from. Throughout our conversations during our friendship I found out little snippets of information about her and she likewise about me.

Joanie is an artist. She likes exercising. She has children and grandchildren. One of the most challenging things for her husband and herself in retirement is affording healthcare. She is sensitive and loving. She told a story of how touched she was one day when visiting the local botanical gardens to see an elderly man kindly describing everything he saw as he guided a young blind woman about the gardens. Another day when I shared about trying to do yoga and Pilates while I was confined to a rocking boat in rainy weather; she told me of her daughter who teaches yoga on paddle boards in Hawaii.

She is a good listener. I shared with her my troubles about downsizing, and moving to be a live-a-board. She heard about family highs and lows. She had many questions wondering about the life of a cruiser. Joanie felt that it would be very challenging for herself, as she found that living in her RV for four months of the year away from her home base and her “stuff’ was challenging enough. She enjoys making the most of the warmer weather cycling with her husband most days and catching up with friends and family that live in the area.

Joanie further touched my soul when she gave me a bouquet of sweet peas. Joanie was “flying” back home [actually driving her R.V.] and the flowers would not travel well, so she passed them onto me, for my enjoyment. What a blessing they were. I breathed in their sweet aroma and gave them a home on our boat. They reminded me of my mother’s garden. She grew sweet peas and often would cut a bunch for me to give to others, usually my teachers. Mum loves to share the beauty of the world, and the riches of her labor. Over the years she often provided flowers to decorate the church on Sundays. Her home is rarely without a live flower; even if only a sole bloom.

What did I learn from Joanie? Never waste an opportunity to connect with a person or to show a kindness. Our world is connected by wonderful people doing wonderful things.

I may never see Joanie again and I do not have a way to keep in contact with her; but she earned the title of an amazing friend in my wall of friendship.

May your life be touched by a friend every day!

In addition – May all my friends know they play an important role in my wall of friendship.

“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.”
-Fred Rogers