I miss my friends

Today was sunny with temperatures in the 70's. It was great! I went for a walk around Leesburg during lunchtime. I feel much more social in warm, sunny weather and as I drove home from work with the windows down and the radio on, I was thinking that it would be nice to call up a friend to carpool with me to FHE tonight and maybe have a quick picnic en route. I couldn't think of anyone to call though. I don't have any friends that live close to me anymore. Now don't get me wrong, I have some great friends, but none of them live nearby. Friendships have a different dynamic when you interact with each other on a daily basis and you're able to drop in on each other and do random impromptu activities together.

I miss Toby. He lived right here in Reston. We'd go running together early in the mornings. We'd go swing dancing a couple times a week. We'd wash our cars together, play chess, watch movies, metro all the way to Maryland to attend FHE with the deaf branch.... He was a great person to not be lonely with.

During grad school there was Aaron. We spent most of our time doing homework, but we never got lonely doing homework, and when I wrote the paper and he did the presentation, we were an unbeatable team. We would talk about everything - all kinds of stuff. I think of Aaron every time I hear salsa music. He saw my potential and treated me as though I had fulfilled it. He never failed to express confidence in my abilities and he encouraged me in my every pursuit.

During the undergrad years there was Angela ~ my roommate and my best friend. We would go on long walks around Provo, often stopping off at the BYU Creamery for some ice cream. There was talking about boys, flirting with boys, avoiding boys. Anne of Green Gables movie marathons. Christmas music all year round. We still talk on the phone often, but I miss having her closeby.
This is such a transient area. I've lived here 7 years and in that time I've had several generations of friends - whole groups of friends who didn't know the friends I had before them and never met the friends I made after them. They came and left and I stayed. A few stalwarts, like Rob, have been there with me through a few generations of friends, but its amazing to think of all the friends who have come and gone from my life in the years that I've lived here.

I need to find a new friend who lives close to me. Someone to go to movie with, someone to watch TV with, someone to play Five Crowns or Yahtzee with, someone I can drop by and visit sometimes, someone who drops by to visit me sometimes, someone I can call up on a beautiful evening, like tonight, to just go for a walk with.