The List

We all have a list of people with whom we've lost track but want to reconnect. Old friends. Classmates. Colleagues. Our situations change. We get busy. Time passes. So much time. Years. So many years that the awkwardness of making that phone call or even sending an e-mail feels insurmountable. We never reach out and yet the intention to do so some day lingers.

I just found out that friend and former co-worker passed away suddenly. I would call him a father figure, although I know that he would scoff and insist that he was more of the cool uncle type. What I know for certain is that he and his wife were very kind and generous to my husband and me when we were new parents and had bought our first house. Good-hearted people.

I don't know exactly how we lost track of each other. We started new jobs. Life took us in different directions and the friendship just couldn't keep up. It has been almost 10 years since we'd seen each other or spoken. But not a year went by when he wasn't on my list of people with whom I'd hoped to reconnect.

So, in his memory, I invite you to pull out your own list, because we all have one. Please contact someone on it, regardless of how much time has passed. Awkwardness be damned. Remember, it's never too late until it's too late.