Get out of your normal routine and take the first step to get together. It may seem like you’re the one making all the effort, but in time you’ll probably find that a good friend comes through, and it may not be in ways that you expect.
I’m constantly amazed at how resilient good relationships are. Two of my best friends from high school have taken distinctly different paths through life than I have — they live in the suburbs of Long Island; I’m a city maven. But we always find so much to talk about and share when we get together. And we do it as often as we can.
In the summer, my daughter and I make regular trips out to Long Island’s Jones Beach to meet Hannah and Joan and her two children. Sometimes we spend the night at Joan’s house. During the off-season my pals make the long trek into Gotham to visit me.
No, it’s not the same as getting together and sitting down to chat, but given our hectic lives, sending an e-mail has the virtue of taking less time than a phone call. And it works surprisingly well in sending the larger and more important message: I’m thinking about you.