Teammates Can Be the Tie that Binds

Family is family and family should definitely come first but the friendships that we develop on our playing fields are something special. 

There's just something about working together for a common cause, fighting together, being a part of a team...that just brings us together.  It's a bond that is cemented by shared wins and  shared losses.

Although we don't communicate often, I feel that special bond with a couple of guys that I played high school football with. 

J.L. Millsaps was one of those.  A head-hunting linebacker, J.L. signed to play football at Memphis State University.  Lonnie Hawkins was another.  Lonnie was our star tailback and headed off to Tennessee  Tech after graduation.

I don't see either of these guys often.  Through the years, it has mostly been for medical reasons or ballgames of one kind or another.  But when we do see each other, it's like the years melt away and that friendship that reaches back (WAY back) to our teenage years is immediately renewed.

It's like that friendship has been put in suspended animation or something and is immediately available to us whenever we meet.

I find that in my professional life too.  Some of the very best friends that I've got in the world are found all over the country.  Tab and Barney in Georgia.  Skip in South Carolina.  Barb in Michigan.  Mike in Nashville, Debbie in Chattanooga, and Danny in Elizabethton.  Secili in Virginia. Pete in Ohio.  I'll stop because the list gets long. 

We see each other maybe twice a year but it's like nothing has changed--that friendship just steps in where it always was.

Despite going our separate ways professionally, one of my former partners in private practice (Baron) and I have stayed as close as ever.  He has always been someone that I could count on.  All of my former partners have remained friends.  I work with two of them every day (Randy and Tracy) and talk to another (David) regularly.  Distance has had no impact on those bonds.

My best friend in high school and college roommate and I still stay in touch.  Again, we don't talk often but when we do, you can be sure that it won't take us long to get around to old stories (and maybe old lies) and it's like nothing has diminished from that friendship.  We renew and become as close as ever.

I just got back from a week mountain biking with another great friend.  For some reason, he and I can spend 24/7 with each other and never have the hint of disagreement.  We genuinely like each other.  I realize how special a friend like that can be.

What's the point of all this?

Your teammates should be your friends.  Take care of them.  Build those relationships and then don't let anything get in the way of holding on to them.  Oh, they won't all stick around but the good one's will.

A friend is too valuable a commodity to waste.  A friend will tell you when you're wrong without being judgmental and loves you even when you don't listen.  A friend knows who you are and likes you anyway.  With a friend, you never have to worry about rejection.

A friend is someone that lets you be yourself.

They aren't your family and they most likely can never be but they are an important part of your life now and for hopefully for many years to come.