Circle of Friends

I moved to St. Louis in December of 2007 for a job and to be closer to my fiance (now hubby).  I must admit that I was excited to be moving to a larger city and away from Springfield, MO.  I was excited about all of the opportunities St. Louis would present.  However, it’s been about 2-1/2 years and I’m afraid that St. Louis doesn’t seem to be growing on me — or maybe I’m just not growing on St. Louis.  I’m not sure which of the two seems to fit the situation best.  I do think that “cities” put a different twist on life, there’s more to do, see, feel and experience.  Opportunities and social status are extremely important.  And often times, with that, there seems to be a difficulty in finding the time to squeeze some things in like spending a few minutes with a colleague, friend, aunt/uncle, parent or even a grandparent. 

In addition to that, I’ve had several conversations with natives of St. Louis and from what I understand, St. Louis is comprised of large groups of close friends and/or family that have grown up together.  The Catholic church also seems to be a common denominator. After hearing that it would be difficult to connect with people here, and being the social person that I am,  I was a bit frightened and discouraged.  I’m from the East coast and was raised within the Assemblies of God.  Unfortunatlely, I’m finding the few people that I spoke with were right.  It’s been very difficult to find my place here and meet those few girlfriends that you sit down with and catch up over a cup of joe.  I’m find myself feeling lonely at times. I am sooo glad and tremendously blessed to be married to my best friend and fortunate to have my other bestest friend here with me as well (my twin, Kristine Bombine). Without them, I’d be completely lost.  However, this does not deflect from the fact that my phone rarely rings with an invite to get together and the e-mails are few and far between.  I often wonder what this means.  Am I not meeting the right people?  Am I not good company?  Is everyone truly that busy?  The questions are endless and the answers seem undefinable.

I never thought I would miss Springfield, but as of late I’m reminded that I had a great thing there — a circle of friends.  I know that as we journey through life, people come and go.  Our circle of friends will continually be changing, for both the good and the bad.  Today, the journey seems as though it might be a little better, a little easier and even a bit more enjoyable if I had a few girlfriends that were journeying beside me.

Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.” – Albert Camus