From Here to There: Friends, In Deed

Credit: Amazon.com

By Amy L. Hatch

I’ve never been a very social person. In fact, some might say that I’ve never really been a very good friend.

I forget birthdays, flake out on sending thank-you cards. My husband — rightly so — rides my butt about both, so at least our family members get greeting cards on the appropriate occasions. I don’t follow through on offering help, I say yes to invitations and back out at the last minute because of social anxiety.

Wow, I sound so awesome, don’t I? You know you want to be my pal now.

When we moved out to Chambana, I knew I was leaving my support system behind, in the form of my mom and sister. I had just started to make some friends out East when we set off for the Great Middle West, and I was fearful that I wouldn’t be able to make new ones here.

This week, I realized that over the four years that we’ve been here, I have made some very good friends, indeed.

Thursday evening, Emmie was running in our master bathroom when she slipped and fell. Bum over teakettle, her head hit the floor with a sickening thud. I was worried, but not overly so until she vomited twice in rapid succession an hour later.

It was late and very, very cold outside; Henry was asleep in his crib and my husband was away on an overnight business trip to Chicago.

I didn’t know what to do, so I told my friend what happened. Fifteen minutes later, she was at my door and telling Emmie to be brave for her mama as we left for the emergency room.

It’s never pleasant to visit the hospital in the late hours of the evening, and it was especially so Thursday night. A family in the waiting room was dealing with a tragedy and the waiting list to be seen was long.

It wasn’t easy to be there, but it would have been a lot harder if I’d had the baby with me, too. Instead, I knew he was safe at home with someone who has known him since before he was even born. In fact, I have a close circle of friends now to call on when I need help, support or just a laugh over a cup of coffee.

I thought moving away from home would make me more independent, and in a lot of ways it has. What I didn’t know was that it would also teach me how to open myself up to friendship — both giving it, and receiving it.

Amy L. Hatch is a co-founder of chambanamoms.com, and probably isn’t going to send you a birthday card. She writes “From Here to There,” a column about being a Northeastern girl on the prairie, on Tuesdays. You can reach her at amy@chambanamoms.com.s

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