Not everyone likes the idea of a systematize approach to maintaining contact with friends. That's fine. But you can't argue with results.
In each of the past three days, I have an opportunity to reconnect with people I hadn't seen in a while.
At the wedding on Sunday, there were a number of folks who said, "oh, I've read your blog."
Monday night, we had David and Belinda visit us from Hong Kong. Prior to that, we saw them 4 years ago in Boston. Before that, 4 years prior in Tokyo.
And yesterday, a nice phone conversation with a friend from New York I haven't seen in 8 years.
The conversations were more fruitful and less awkward because of the system. They felt like they had some connection to me and it allowed us to get into deeper chats more quickly than we would otherwise.
If I hadn't bothered to keep in touch with David/Belinda over the 8 years, there's no way they would have called me out of the blue.
As Adam said yesterday, "in many ways, we are the sum total of the friends we have." I agree with that, which is why I invest so much time and energy in staying in touch with people whose opinions and personality I appreciate.
And, without it, you don't get to see things like Naomi (David/Belinda's daughter) jumping around the playroom and drawing with Calanit...seeing the friendship continue into the next generation.
Friends...certainly one of the things for which I am thankful during Thanksgiving.
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