The Friendship Files: Your Comments on the Challenge
Today, we are spotlighting some of our favorite responses to the challenge — from people who reached out to someone this week, or who had done this sort of thing before.
“I reached out to my Brownie troop leader after 45 years. (It took a while to find her, even with Google.) She was pretty delighted that I had managed to find her and sent me a lovely letter back.” — Amy M. Vansen, Dearborn, Mich.
“I was moved unexpectedly to tears as I read today’s Happiness Challenge to my husband over coffee this morning. I thought, ‘I must be lonely, this has cracked open my heart.’ So I called my best friend, Jeff, who lives in New Jersey. Jeff and I worked together as professional musical theater actors for years, and our friendship has prevailed over careers and miles and my various husbands. The call took place as he was driving to the window store to buy windows for the remodel he’s doing — he’s now an interior designer — so we had our time boundary in place. I noticed that it doesn’t matter to me so much what we say, but the sound and cadence of his familiar and precious baritone that makes me smile and fills me up.” — Alexana Ryer, Eaton, Colo.
“I have a very good friend who is always busy and has trouble finding free time to talk. But when I sent him a text asking when he would have eight minutes for a talk this week, he responded immediately. We had a very pleasant conversation, and after nine minutes I apologized for running over time. He said he’d report me to The Times.” — Ben Sofer, Jerusalem
“I am 68, and my marriage of 46 years is ending. Until today, in my efforts to deal with this loss and continue to be a father with our seven adult children, I have taken the ‘lone-warrior’ approach: ‘I can handle this. I know what to do.’ The eight-minute call challenge opened my eyes to the self-inflicted loss I was enduring through my failure to reach out these last months to Bill, my friend of 30 years. Bill knows me in and out, and he has preceded me in this difficult transition in his own life. After reading the newsletter early this morning, I texted Bill and we scheduled a phone call for this afternoon, probably our first direct conversation since the death of Bill’s mother two years ago. The conversation was all I could have hoped for. Broke the eight-minute limit early on, and have exchanged texts several times since. I am sold.” — Scott Reed, Virginia Beach, VA.
“This was my sister’s response to her living eulogy: ‘Wow. I’m speechless. OK, maybe not. Thank you for acknowledging the things I’ve done; it hasn’t been hard at all. You are easy to love.’” — Debbie Rivard, Peachtree City, Ga.
“I returned just this week to a former job to be back with my friends. I left a year ago for a larger paycheck, knowing I’d miss my co-workers, but a year without any work friends left me dissatisfied and lonely. I am incredibly grateful that I’ve been able to return home.” — Hannah Esper, Lafayette, Colo.
