Making friends

"Do I have your number," she asked.  "I don't usually bother people from work, but, these are strange times."  

In that awkward moment, I took the chance, and said, "Well, I think you're pretty cool, so, I'd be ok with you wanted to contact me outside of school.  Plus, I have no friends, so if you want to be my friend..."  

We had come together that afternoon for a meeting, for work.  But these are strange times, and so, as we got to the end of the meeting our conversation, we wandered into more personal topics.  Everything revolves around Covid these days... it's impacting everything.  Even our work meeting was talking about how to meet the needs of students using different materials in these times of not being able to share materials/share germs.  But then our personal conversation got into covid, our families, how we'll spend the holidays, and what other people are doing in their lives (and on social media) during covid.  

But, it worked.  We made it to exchanging numbers, and adding that maybe one of these days we can have a distanced glass of wine. 

I walked away from that meeting, not really wanting to go, but knowing I had other places to be, and things to do- it was after all, still work hours. But I wish we could have just together then and there and gotten into deeper conversations.

You know when you meet someone and you just really like them.  You always enjoy talking, and you find yourself wanting to find out more about them, their life, who they are outside of the context you know them in.  That's how I felt about this colleague.  And, it seems she felt the same about me.  It helps that we have to work together, and seem to be on the same page about what these kids need. 

When I left work that say, I found myself thinking about the whole exchange as I was driving home.  It helped that my new friend had already sent me a text message with a little something to laugh about on her way home. 

As I drove, it felt like my soul expanded a bit.  I exhaled a bit more deeply.  I made a friend.  I had someone to talk to who wasn't my family, and who was in the same town as me. 

Adult friendships are hard.  How do you meet new people?  How do you find time for each other when we all have so much going on in our lives already.  How do you make a friend when there is a pandemic on and all you do it go to work and go home? 

It's not easy, but, here I am.  I don't know if we'll manage to made an outside school friendship work in the long run, but, I sure would be happy if we did.  For now, for these strange times, at least I have someone who I can send a funny text to.  I have a friend.