Friendship

Not many things stand the test of time. Google images of the ruins of the Roman and Greek empires. They are called ruins for a reason.

Sometimes our relationships end up in ruins. Dilapidated friendships. Broken marriages. Burned bridges.

I had a great experience last weekend. You probably know that I'm a baseball fanatic. I especially love the Cincinnati Reds. And since the Texas Rangers are the closest MLB team, we love them, too. Just not as much as the Reds!

Last year, the Reds and Rangers both made the post-season. I got a Facebook message from Derek Dishner saying that if both teams made the World Series he would buy us tickets and we'd go. Unfortunately, both teams were knocked out early and the dream match-up never happened.

Then the 2013 schedule came out and the Reds were headed to Arlington for three games. That was last weekend. A couple of months ago Derek messaged me again inviting us to come to the games. So we did.

I'm pretty excited about getting to see the Reds. I've been a fan since the days of the Big Red Machine when I was just a kid. Back then we only had one game on the TV each week. NBC carried the Game of the Week and I never missed it. Because the Reds were so good, they were often part of the match-up. But I had only seen the Reds in person three times. Once was in St. Louis and yes I wore my Reds hat. And then our family went to Cincinnati two years ago and saw the Reds play the Giants twice.

This past weekend I saw them play twice against the Rangers. I was in heaven.

Derek and I have been friends for a long, long time. When I was a music minister and he was a piano salesman, our church bought a piano from him. A couple of years later he opened a music store and I was an ad salesman. Then I needed a job and he gave me one. Our last face-to-face contact was over 15 years ago. And we've talked only a couple of times. Until the baseball stuff came up.

Riley, Deana, and I spent a great weekend with Derek and Janice. The baseball was wonderful and I appreciate the opportunity to see the Reds. But the friendship with Derek seemed like it hadn't lost a thing over the years apart. Deana had never met Derek and we had never met Janice. Life changes and sometimes those changes allow people to drift apart. It's amazing how well we all clicked.

That's the beauty of friendships. And that's why friendships are valuable. It's easy to let friendships fall into ruins but it's worth making the effort to keep up with your friends.