Life can change in a matter of seconds.

Each person you meet has the opportunity to impact your life. You never know when a simple hello can gain you a lifelong friend. Take this journey with me. Waiting in line for a water slide on vacation and there are a couple guys behind me and my mom. Typical for my mom, she begins a conversation talking about the water park and area we were at on vacation. The boys were brothers and there on vacation as well. We approached the top of the slide and said goodbye. This goodbye did not last long. I later was floating along on the lazy river when I again ran into one of the brothers. We got to talking about life and where we were from. Before we knew it we had went around the lazy river at least a hundred times, well however many times you can go around a lazy river in about three hours.

Little did I know that the one simple hello could lead me to a lifelong friend. As the water park was coming to a close, we for real had to say our goodbyes. It was weird because after spending just a few hours together, it had felt like I had known him forever. After we parted ways, of course we had to become Facebook friends. If it wasn’t for Facebook, I’m not sure we would have spoke again. After that vacation, we kept in touch. Frequently we would Skype and chat. We may be 11 hours apart, but that didn’t stop us from being a part of each other's lives. It was unique to have a friend raised in a different state, but with so many similarities.

We knew we may never cross paths again. We didn’t let this bother the fact that we could be friends. Not everything in life has to be complicated. There was moments when we would send each other surprise mail. We are talking snail mail here. Cards, letters and pictures sent in envelopes with post stamps. Things to update one another on what was going on in life. As we all know, that as time goes on, it begins to get harder to keep in contact. Keep in mind, 11 hours apart, knowing that we will never probably see one another again. Most people would say, “what is the point?” That was not how we felt though. We understood how precious life is and that having someone out there who stands by your side can be meaningful at any time. After three years, we still keep in touch. Christmases, birthdays and the random "just to see how you're doing texts."

Is that not crazy how three hours can turn into three years and I have a feeling three years is going to continue to a lifetime.