Friends are the Umbrellas in the Storms of Life

It's raining again, so I thought I'd post a card I'd made that says, "Friends are the umbrellas in the storms of life." I like that sentiment. I don't know about you, but I'd be lost without my friends. The hard part is maintaining those relationships when you're a full time caregiver.

Relationships take time and effort. Telephone calls, lunches and hobbies are all part of hanging out but we tend to put ourselves on the back burner. Everyone elses needs come first. I'm not saying that's wrong. If my kid needs something I'm not going to flake out on him and head to a movie with a friend. It's not how I'm built. Call it a strong work ethic or a passion for family. It just ain't happenin'.

So how do we nurture friendships? How do we find time to go to lunch, head to a thrift sale, take in a movie? I honestly found that I could combine my solitude and my need for a social life in scrapbooking. I love it. I make cards at home and then get together with friends to stamp once in a while. It helps me nurture myself.

I signed up under a friend and became a demonstrator for Stampin' Up! scrapbook and stamp company just so I'd get out of the house. We always get out of the house to work, don't we? The thing was, it didn't feel like work because I loved doing it. Not only that I did parties for family, friends and other people I knew so it felt like a coffee clutch.

Then I branched out a little. It morphed into the therapeutic scrapbooking that I teach to parents of children with disabilities and into a blog. Suddenly I have online friends who stamp who are almost like pen pals and I belong to online groups. I get together every few months to stamp with other demos. I teach classes on stamping and the therapeutic scrapbooking. I get out! 

Because I was seeking unusual ways to socialize, it gave me great insight into what Ryan needed in order to hook him into social situations for friend making. It worked too! Ryan now has a variety of people in his life that are into the hobbies he loves.

It's amazing how far a little creativity can go!

Much love and joy,

Karen