A week ago, I got to catch up with one of my long-time friends, Mike Albert. Mike and I first became friends in 8th grade. He was a student at Beaver High School and I went to Mooreland High School (about 1 1/2 hours away). We met at a 4-H conference. We were friends all through junior high, high school, and college. But like so many friendships, life after college took us separate ways.
Mike headed to Aspen, Colorado where he is a big time landscape architect (right now, he is taking two years off to get his Master’s at Harvard!) I went to Tulsa for Miss Oklahoma, England for grad school, back to Tulsa to be a news reporter, then got married and moved to Durant, Oklahoma. But throughout all the moves and changes, we have managed to stay in touch and stay friends… largely because of Mike’s effort to stay in contact!
Me, Mike & Erica (one of my best girl friends) in Aspen last summer… with Estelle, Mike’s Bulldog.
I told Mike I was going to post about his special talent of staying in touch with people important in his life. During our recent visit, he outlined his “social schedule” for the week… including trips to Dallas, Oklahoma City, & Aspen to connect with friends. He has stayed in touch with college advisors and other adult leaders who I have lost contact with. Mike truly has one of the largest social networks I know (and I’m not talking about Facebook). And I have no doubt those contacts have and will continue to serve him well in the future.
So, here’s what I’ve learned from Mike… and some goals I’m going to keep working on!
- Make an effort to call one “far away” friend each week.
- Remember Birthdays – a card or a phone call are so much more personal than a text or Facebook post.
- Plan in advance to “meet up” with friends in the area when travelling.
- Find a “mentor” at work and spend time building that relationship.
EKS
