The Story of Friendships

When you think about it, we developed and established friendships from such a young age. From our first day in school when we sat on the grass making daisy chains or having handstand competitions. You make friends with such ease when you're young. Well, when you spend 6-7 hours a day in the classroom 5 days of the week, you're bound to have each other's backs.


The Story of Friendships

You carry on your friendship outside of school hours. You have sleepovers, go and play outside, go round each other's houses for tea and invent new dance routines to your favourite songs.



Then we ventured on to high school and met new kids from different primary schools who looked just as petrified of starting comp as you did. You kind of drift apart from the friends you already made in your primary school and make new friends.



You then hang around outside of school talking about boys that you fancy or discuss what gossip circulated on MSN the night before.


The Story of Friendships



Then you finish your final GCSE exam (hurrah!) and then you either head off to college or leave school to get a job. When we leave school, all your friends follow different paths, you don't necessarily follow their path and you pave one for yourself. You promise to keep in touch with the friends that sign your school polo shirt, but sadly that can't always happen.



You go to college or uni and make new friends once again. Hopefully you have interpreted the pattern of this post. We all create new friendships at different stages of our lives, whether it's crying with each other on your first day of school or becoming your roommate at uni.



When you meet new people, whether it's at your new job or through a hobby eg blogging or even knitting, they are all at different stages in their lives. Looking at my own friendship group, they are all at varied phases in their lives. Some own their own homes, a few of them have kids, one is engaged, one has their own business and a couple of them live in a different country, well Liverpool. But it's in England so that is a different country.



The Story of Friendships



What I've learnt is that with adult friendships, you have to make an effort to maintain them. We all have busy lives to lead and it feels like you have to schedule a catch up or birthday meal weeks in advance. As you grow up, you become more independent and start to get adulty responsibilities. It's not like when we were kids when we could just pop round their house for tea or have a bounce on their trampoline.



One thing I can tell you about the friends I have made in my life, even the ones that I have had and lost over the years, is that they have shaped me into the person I am today. They have given me wonderful and unforgettable memories, something which I will always be grateful to them for. Also I need to say thank you to them for making me smile, making me laugh until I wee a little (thank the Lord for Tenor Lady's!) and for being there to wipe away my tears. That's all you need to make a friendships last - smiles, laughs, wine and pizza. The perfect recipe for a long lasting friendship.


The Story of Friendships



What are you grateful to your friends for on #InternationalDayOf Friendship ?
Lucy
18 comments
  1. What a fabulous post! I agree it's so difficult to maintain friendships as an adult. I never underestimate the power of a quick WhatsApp message, or even just a tag in a crappy meme on Facebook, it just shows that person is thinking of you. At the same time though it's still important to make sure you actually put in the effort for a cup of tea now and again! I've lost many friends over the years just through growing apart, and when I left my last job I was so worried it would happen again, so I've been trying extra hard to keep in contact. It has really shown me who my best friends are, by if anything it's made me more grateful for them! My BFF is (as Meredith Grey would put it) my person, and I'm so grateful to have met her. She makes me laugh, she's seen me at my absolute worst, and we've had so many times when we've laughed until we've cried. It's so important to be thankful for our friends! Xx

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    1. Thank you Amy! I think it is hard to keep in touch with people you used to work with, I know that I have lost touch with a lot of people I used to work with, it's kind of like you move on and become friends with your new work mates. But you're absolutely right, a quick WhatsApp message here and there doesn't hurt! xx

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  2. I think friendships change as you change, especially when you're younger and trying to figure out who you are as a person! My closest friends are those that I see a few times a year, when we do meet up it's like nothing has changed! X

    https://www.femaleoriginal.com

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    1. Absolutely Faye, yourself and friendships do change over time! I have friends like that, when we do meet up after so long, it's like nothing has changed! x

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  3. keeping and making friends as an adult is so hard, I have friends from pre-uni that I physically don't have the time to spend with or talk to very often and then friends from after uni who I struggle to see because of my work pattern. Thanks for sharing x

    Kayleigh Zara | www.kayleighzaraa.com

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    1. It is hard sometimes Kayleigh, life can get in the way x

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  4. this is such an interesting post but also so true!! It can be sad how inevitably friendships burn out but there's always room to make more :)

    lily loves | https://www.lilyloves.net

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  5. Once you hit adulthood, the meaning of friendship changes because it's harder to meet new people that you connect with. The group of friends I have now is small but I wouldn't change it for the world.

    Great post!

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    1. They always say you should count your truest friends on your one hand!

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  6. This was such a lovely post, I’ve definitely struggled to make friends as I’ve got older and it was so much easier when you were constantly surrounded by them at school but the friends I do have I treasure and make sure I take the time for them! X

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    1. Thank you Aaliyah! We were always surrounded by our friends in school so it's such a big change when we leave school! x

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  7. This is such a lovely post and I couldn't agree more about friends shaping who we are. It's such a shame that you lose touch with so many friends after school, I never would have thought I'd lose as many as I did.
    Soph - https://sophhearts.com x

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    1. I think in a way I was kind of fortunate that I didn't have a tonne of friends in comp and I've managed to keep in touch with my best friend I've known ever since we started nursery together! x

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  8. I don't really have any "real life" friends anymore. I lost touch with many when they went to University and our lives went separate ways - which is totally normal. But then a lot of them just left me when my anxiety started and got so bad that I couldn't really go out normally anymore. Adult friendships are SO hard to make!

    Jenny
    http://www.jennyinneverland.com

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    1. Aww Jenny! I'm so sorry to hear that, I get what you're saying though, losing friends after college/uni is quite inevitable. They're not true friends if they didn't bother with you when your anxiety started, friends should be there for each other no matter what!

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  9. Beautiful! I completely agree. I recently reconnected with an old friend and it was like we'd never been apart! That's friendship x

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