Making New Friends
When I was about seven years old, my family made the short move from Zweibrucken, Germany, to the Landstuhl Air Force base.
I remember two things very clearly about this particular moving day. The first is throwing something of a fit because Land of the Lost was due to come on and the television was nowhere to be found amongst the boxes. My second, and slightly less shameful, recollection is of meeting a little girl my own age on the sidewalk outside our apartment complex. I recall that I told her my name was Alissa, and then I asked if she wanted to be my best friend. She said okay.
And that was that. We became best friends forever. . .or until my family was transferred to the states two years later which, for us, was pretty much the same thing.
I cherish that memory, for the humor of it, the sweetness, and the reminder of how simple a thing it can be to make a new friend.
In my upcoming historical romance, Nearly A Lady, my heroine, Winnefred Blythe, finds herself in London, meeting new people and making new friends for the first time in years. Obviously, socializing as an adult is a far more complicated matter than finding a playmate as a child, and by no stretch of the imagination is Winnefred a social butterfly by nature. With a slightly adjusted attitude, she muddles along mostly well enough. But when it comes right down to it, Winnefred would much rather be on her isolated farm in Scotland keeping company with Lilly, her former governess, and Claire, her favorite goat.
Ultimately, Winnefred is an individual who would prefer to have one or two old friends with whom she is very close than a large circle of new acquaintances. How about you? Are you gifted at making new friends? Is it a process you enjoy and seek out, or are you more like Winnefred, willing to make the best of a situation, but generally happiest when you’re with those you already know well?
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I think I’m a lot like Winnefred, willing to make the best of a situation, but happiest when I’m with the ones I already know well.
Thanks so much for having me, Sandy! Margay–I fall into the same category.
Congrats on the new release, Alissa. Socializing as an adult is definitely more difficult. I was definitely more outgoing as a kid.
I’ve never been too outgoing, unless you’re speaking to my closest friends whom I’m comfortable enough with to be myself. I lived on the outskirts of a city as a kid and I suppose it was more city than where I am now by far. I now live in the middle of nowhere and I severely appreciate it. My kids can run around outside and play and I worry more about the heat than anything else. Noone ever stops by unannounced, that by far is worth living in partial isolation. I enjoy the peace the country brings more as an adult than I might’ve as a kid.
Congrats on the new book, Alissa! I moved a lot growing up and always saw it as an opportunity to meet new and different people. Was definitely a fan of the old girl scout song “make new friends, but keep the old…” Now, I’m solidly in the gold rather than silver category. I just don’t seek out the opportunities.
Jane—Thanks! So was I. I think I’ve gotten out of the habit.
Heather—Oh, the unannounced visitor, guaranteed to arrive as you step out of the shower, and the phone is ringing, and there’s dog hair on the foyer tiles, and you’re running late for an appointment. Lack of these moments is one of the reasons I love the country, too!
Hi, Carly—LOL, that song was stuck in my head the whole time I was writing this blog!
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Hi! Greetings from Germany! 🙂
I think I’m rather like your heroine. I’m not a person who makes friends quickly and I rather keep to people I already know.
Good luck with your new book!