Friends

Where Are We Today

Lake Havasu City Arizona

( written by me, myself and I )

It must be the time of year, because here he goes again, Bill that is. If you remember, it was about the same time last year that he got all mushy.

He said to me the other day that he doesn't know from what cache of his mind these thoughts/ideas come from, but they do. So the topic of this conversation was "Friends", who, how many and what kind, and by what kind, he meant personal, social media, life style and blogger friends, of which many cross all of those categories.

Before we go any further, he interjected, family is important here also, immediate family are more than friends along with in-law family, who he lovingly refers to as the out-laws, but because they are called friends on social media sites, they need to be recognized. It was also mentioned that the love and support for the life style ( which is full time RVing) that they have chosen is overwhelming.

Joan

So to start with, Bill said that thinking back to childhood/school days, there is one friend who he hears from on social media, that is Joan Wood, they met in 1966 as classmates at King Lear Public School and lost contact during high school. A few years ago, they found each other on social media and continue that friendship online. One day he hopes that they will meet again in person after 40 some years.

Friends come and go for various reasons, they come into your life for and through many avenues, work, play, marriages, divorces, family and social media, some stay and some leave. Bill partially remembered an old saying that goes something like this, " friends that stay were meant to be and those that don't, just fade away", a good way to look at it.

Kim

Heather, Pat, Laurie A.& Laurie B

Deb

Brenda

So taking a look at the various types of friends, he said that work friends cross a couple of those categories. While working, there were people who you call friends, not just work mates. He said that they were the ones that you looked forward to seeing each time that you worked together or crossed paths during a work day. Since retiring. he hasn't seen a lot of them, but most are on social media and keep in touch. Brenda, Mike, Fred, Steve, Deb, Kim, Laurie, Eric and Mark to name a few that came to his mind.

Kathy & Derrick Sumnall

Jim & Sharon May

Charmaine, Colin, Selina 7 Samantha

Next he said that play friends, meaning people who he met through his hobby, RC aircraft, are what comes to mind and some of these cross more than one categories. Some of them lead to friendship with more than the individual, but also their spouse and family. When spouses came into equation, that meant that Bill's wife Pat became part of that friendship also, which led to friendships outside of the hobby/play category. 

Pat

A few that came to his mind were, The Nashs', The Sumnalls', The Henrys', The Mays', The Carters', Keith, Kevin, Jack and many others. One thing about belonging to a club and meeting new friends is the support in that hobby that is given to each other.

Lina, Giselle & Chris Carter

Keith

Kevin

 Bill said that he can't thank them enough for that help and support  that continues to be given in and outside the hobby.

In Bill's mind, the last two categories are combined, because one evolved from the other, that being blogger friends evolved from RVing, so many of the friends cross from one to the other. Although Rving/ camping, started for both Bill and Pat before they met, it continued after a short time into their marriage. Having gone through tent, tent trailer, truck camper and now on their 4th fifth wheel trailer which led into full time RVing.

George, Gerry, Dee, Mike, Melinda, and Suzie

Ken & Nancy Adamski

The first to be recognized, Bill says, is a blogger who gave so much information into full time RVing then and after they met is George and Suzie Yates, whose blog is" Our Awesome Travels". From them, they have met so many other part and full time RVers, The Aljoes', The Whites', The Hicks', The Goodens', The Adamskis', The Denzlers', The Obergs', to name a few. Through blogger there are many who they have met and not met yet, Rick & Kathy, Deb & Tom, Al & Kelly, Deb & Riley, Ken & Shirley, Mike & Sandy and many more. Bill says, if you read his or Pat's blog, you can find the many friends on blogger down the right hand side of the page.

Rob & Pat Aljoe

Oscar & Judy Oberg

Lori & Rowland Denzler

Rick & Kathy

That brings to mind one last and important part of the RVing experience. That one being the dealer who you buy your RV from, in this case, their three last trailers came from CanAm RV, in London Ontario. Bill said that not everyone buys from a dealer or the same dealer, but in his opinion, if you find one that gives you excellent service and you can build a rapport with, he likes to stick with them. In Pat and Bill's case, this is CanAm RV. He said that this experience as customers first, then friends has now grown to a family feeling with CanAm. It starts with the owners, Andy & Kirk Thomson, then filters down through the staff, from sales, finance, service, parts and the unseen techs who prepare and repair our RV.

CanAm Family

The relationship with CanAm, led first to Pat & Bill helping out at RV shows, getting to know the staff and meeting manufacturer representatives, other RVers and those looking to become RVers. The second thing for Bill, led to a part time job, showing people through the trailer they have bought, new or used. If you know Bill at all, he likes to talk, and knows enough about trailers to do this. He will also tell you, that this is a learning experience for him, as new technology appears, he has the opportunity to see it. He will tell you that he gets to talk with the techs and learn from them, whether it is new technology or how to fix something on their own trailer.

While Bill has been rambling on here, I have been putting his thoughts into words. I get from all of this, that Bill thinks friends, no matter what category, are important. It doesn't matter whether they are personal, work related, play, RVers or bloggers, whether you communicate each day or not, whether you see each other on a daily bases or once every few years, as long as you keep in touch, that's what counts, that's what makes you friends.

To sum it up, he says, friends are friends, you don't have to be in touch 365 days a year, but stay in touch. If you decide to leave, no hard feelings.

This is the time of year that he says you should give some extra thought to all of those you call friends. 

Bill is thankful for each one and hopes that you don't take offense if he has missed you.