ca·ma·ra·de·rie
noun /ˌkäm(ə)ˈrädərē/ /ˌkam-/ /-ˈrad-/
Mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together
Camaraderie...that is the word that best explains why I haven't written a post in a while. I was effortlessly working on the camaraderie with my friends here in Germany. As I often write about, friendship is one of my most treasured things in life. It also happens to be one of the biggest roller coasters when one is living as an Expat. You make new friends, you play with them, you love them and eventually someone is transitioning to a different location.
It was hard leaving all of our friends in Alabama, but we know we one day be back in the U.S. and I would again be at the pool building the camaraderie all while trying to surivive the heat and get my friz ball of a head toned down. But living in a country that you know will not be your "homeland" on a permanent basis, leads to a bit of a heartbreak when someone transitions out of the area.
My good friend Darla and her children are moving to Berlin, so we haven't pouted or distanced ourselves as we prepare for their transition....we made our camaraderie stronger. We all barely came up for a breath once school was out....pools (indoor since it has been a tad cool here), playgrounds, sleepovers, long bike rides, late nights (sun is up until 10 here in Germany), lunches, dinners and yes, a few tear sheddings. Tennyson said, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." For me, the same goes with friendships. But it sure is hard when you often have to say "we will keep in touch" knowing it just want be quite the same as just popping over.
So, we have made all of the promises to keep in touch, said see you soons, and hiden our tears as we give that last hug....but we know that the camaraderie that we built together here in Germany will make all of those promises come true!
Now I think it is time to head to Alabama for a little hot vacation and rekindle that old camaraderie.
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