Jan. Friends: Telephone

Remember playing with tin cans as phones when we were kids? I doubt that anyone does that anymore.

I have three telephone friends, which is paradoxical as I don't like to make phone calls. These three friends and I have scheduled times to call each week; though we sometimes miss times, we always come back to calling.

That happened today with my friend Judy, who used to live here in Corpus Christi and now lives in Fort Worth. When she moved there, we committed to calling each other once a week. One week I would call, and the next week she called. This was new for both of us, since neither of us were phone callers. But it worked and kept us together as spiritual friends.

A few years ago my best friend from junior high Nancy and I started calling each other on Sunday evenings. She is a school teacher in California and so this time works out best for her. I'll have to write about her someday because we became friends in 7th grade while our parents were stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan.

I am not as consistent with my other telephone friend, Nance. I was much more regular about calling her on my early morning drives to San Antonio starting in 2000 when I was going to Oblate School of Theology for classes. In the past few years, I have not been as regular as I once was.

I have lost touch with other friends here in Corpus Christi, since I do not call them. I guess I need more accountability, which comes from making weekly appointments (for me). It hasn't worked when friends and I have semi-agreed to call once a month--we fizzle out.