Bloomin' Monday: The Lonely Hearts Club

Hi again!  I hope you're enjoying this little series on How to Make the Most of Moving to a New Town.  (Of course, if you've lived in one place for a long time with no plans to leave, I hope you're also getting inspired to become more involved, make friends, etc.)

When you first move to a new town and start to get to know new people, it may seem like everyone but you has lived there forever.  And in some cases, that may be generally true.  But I'm going to challenge you to look for other lonely people.

One of the first friends I made at Auburn was Candice.  She wasn't necessarily lonely (were you, Candice?), but she was sitting all by herself in the cafeteria one day.  Now, it's really not like me to sit down with a random stranger, but Candice was wearing a Truth T-shirt.  (Truth was a popular Christian music group at the time.  Remember my prom date from this post?  Well, he led me into becoming infatuated with all things Truth in the early 1990s.)  I asked if I could sit with her, she said yes, we struck up a conversation, and a friendship was born.  In fact, not just one friendship but many.  My roommate and I became friends with Candice and her eventual roommate plus another girl down the hall (Hi Sonya, Laura, and Lori!), and the 5 of us were practically inseparable for the next 3 years.

Fast forward about 8 years.  David and I had just moved from Montgomery, AL (about 3 hours from our parents) to Bremerton, WA (MUCH further away from our parents) and were facing our first Thanksgiving alone.  We had become part of a little church in Bremerton, and a family in the church invited us to their house for Thanksgiving.  We had a great time and decided to "pay it forward."  Since then, we have been on the lookout for other people living far from family and have hosted others for Thanksgiving in Seattle; Jacksonville, FL; and here in Fort Smith.  I strongly encourage you to consider doing the same for any holiday.  If you are sad about not being able to travel somewhere, I guarantee that there are other people feeling the same way.

So that's my 2 cents for today.

Coming up on Bloomin' Monday - a series of guest posts from my mother on how to Bloom Where You're Planted in another country.  You won't want to miss it!

Until then, keep bloomin'!



This post is linked up to one or more of the following blog parties.  Check them out! Monday: Menu Plan Monday on I'm an Organizing Junkie Wednesday: Works for Me Wednesday at We are THAT Family Friday: 5 Minute Friday at The Gypsy Mama, Company Girl Coffee at Home Sanctuary Other days: A Wise Woman Builds Her Home