Whew! I just finished working a 16-day straight stretch on campus at Medaille. Two weekends of my students’ running events plus an open-house, basketball games and hockey to be webstreamed… it’s all just made for a very busy time.
But Thanksgiving’s tomorrow, and today I’m getting my first moments of a break. Now, really, come Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I’ve got a lot of work to do catching up on grading and so forth, but don’t tell Melodia.
Since we moved to Buffalo, we’ve spent every Thanksgiving with our friends Adam and Danelle Padd. I don’t know quite how that became our tradition. An invite that first year, led to a second, and so forth, I suppose. This year, for a change, rather than going to their place, they’re coming to ours. Melodia and I have the Wii ready to go, as well as some board games, and both of the girls have been prepping some stuff – the turkey and apple pie on our end, and pecan pie on the Padd’s.
Our Thanksgivings really have been a blessing. Getting to spend time with friends, and these friends in particular has always been wonderful.
It’s interesting to look at our friendships and assess them. Our friendship with Danelle and Adam is one in which we have very few expectations of each other. What I mean is… when we’re setting something up, trying to work out a plan, etc… if it comes together, great. If it doesn’t, no worries. It’s the type of friendship that isn’t highly demanding, and yet, it’s always ready for use. On a moment’s notice, we’ll go to their place and spend the night, or they’ll come to ours. And the hosting party never makes it out to be an inconvenience.
Recently, we had one of those situations where we were without power and decided to see if we could impose on some friends who still had power. A few of our friends were busy or had plans that didn’t really allow the powerless Wilson’s to impose on. As we sat in the dark of our silent house talking about it, we were thankful for our friendship with the Padd’s. Immediately, we looked at each other and said, if we’d called the Padd’s, they’d have said, “come on over.” In fact, even if they weren’t home, they’d have said, “use the house.”
Now, Adam and Danelle live 1.5 hours south of us, so it is not always convenient. But it sure is helpful to have that type of friendship that allows for so much grace without the expectation of return or a counting of who’s done what and when. Certainly, the Padd’s are way beyond us in hosting visits. They live in the country, and our eagerness to spend some time in the country is often greater than theirs to spend time in the city… though the pool at our last apartment tempted them a few times.
We enjoy the opportunities to host them, and tomorrow will be nice that way. I guess, I’m just thinking about friendships, and realizing that some are hard to replace. It’s hard to quantify exactly what makes ours with the Padd’s fun. We’ll go months without seeing each other, but we’ve often spent several weekends in a row together. We’ll plan in advance, and we’ll plan last minute. Sometimes, we just go to their place and hang out, other times to help with some work, like making Venison meatballs! Yummo.
Maybe what I’m trying to place my finger on is that it’s nice to have friends who don’t ever give you the feeling that you’re imposing, and who are very inclusive in their approach to life. After all, isn’t that the way it should be? Aren’t we all supposed to be opening our arms and waving others to come on in? I think so.
Tomorrow, the Padd’s will, once again, come on in – and I’m looking forward to it. Happy Thanksgiving to you, wherever you are, and to your friends, whose inclusion of you make life more wonderful.
Aw How cute