Not every relationship has to become a friendship

As of late, I stopped feeling guilty that I didn't have one big group of friends.

Maybe it's age (most likely). Maybe it's life. Maybe it's just perspective.

I've realized there are different kinds of friendships, and they all have value.

There are the basketball moms. We spend entire weekends together. We cheer for each other's kids, catch up between games, laugh about the refs, and then we don't talk again until the next tournament.

There are the soccer moms.

The school moms.

The neighborhood moms.

The work friends.

Each group knows a different part of my life.

Years ago, I think I expected every one of those relationships to turn into a "real" friendship. If they didn't, I wondered why.

Now I don't.

I've realized not every relationship is supposed to become a lifelong friendship.

Some people are simply meant to share a season with you.

That doesn't make the relationship less meaningful.

Then there are the friends who become family.

The ones who know the hard things.

The ones you call when life falls apart.

Those friendships are built different; they seem to get fewer as I get older.

Simply because life gets fuller, our standards get higher, and we stop confusing proximity with connection.

Do we spend too much time encouraging our kids to "make friends," as if every classroom, every team, and every activity have to produce a best friend?

What if we change the narrative to how to build healthy relationships, knowing that some people will become lifelong friends, some will simply walk beside you for a season, and both are okay.

The older you get, you stop trying to collect friends...

...and start appreciating the people who truly feel like home.

Not every relationship has to become a frineship to have value. Sometimes, people are simply a chapter of your story and that in itself has value.