Interview: Ann

Hey guys!

It’s been a while since the last family and friends interview, but today, I am back with the March one!

I thought that I would interview Ann, my best friend. She is a lot of fun and is always here for me. I really appreciate her. In fact, I did an appreciation post for her back in October, along with my cousin, Lauren, that you can check out here.

Without further delay, let’s get to it!

How do you know Rose?

She is part of my church family, and our parents knew each other before we were even born!

When did Rose move? How long have you known each other? How long has it been since Rose moved? How old are you now?

I think that I was nine-ish when Rose moved, I remember that we were both really young. We’ve known each other since Rose was born (I was a little bit older) and we were in the nursery together. I’m 15 now, so it’s been almost 6 years, which is crazy!

What did your relationship with Rose look like before she/ he moved?

We had sleepovers, and my family invited her family to our house sometimes. She has a lot of brothers, so I always remember our house being really lively when her family came over. We were also church buddies and were in a choir together. We even acted in some church plays together!

What changed for you when Rose moved?

I remember feeling really sad. We had a sleepover before she left, and I remember that we both cried at the end, and it was really hard for me to leave her house, knowing that she would be moving. I tried to be strong but failed miserably. When we were younger, we FaceTimed and had to use our parents' phones, or my tablet, because we weren’t allowed to have phones yet. I am super fortunate to have parents that don’t mind long plane rides, so I visited her as much as I could too. Now that we are older, we can text and facetime as much as we want! The time difference is still a rough barrier though, but it’s pretty easy to overcome through text. Of course, both of us changed too, I wasn’t a Christian before she moved, but became one.

What are some ways you stay in touch? How often do you talk?

We keep in touch through text, FaceTime dates, YouVersion Bible studies, and visiting each other. We talk pretty much every day though text, and FaceTime maybe once or twice per month.

How do/ have you deepen(ed) your relationship with your friend? Does God or your common faith play a role In that? If so, how?

YES. Our common faith plays a huge role. Doing devotionals with each other is really great for both of us. I also talk to her about the things in life that I feel like I can’t share with other people. I feel like she understands me and relates to me in a way that no one else does, even though our lives are so different, and I think that she feels the same way. I don’t know that I believe in soulmates, but I’m pretty sure that I have a soul sister. (: I think that God definitely put us together, and made us in a special way, to be able to connect with one another on a deeper level. I couldn’t imagine my life without her.

How can having a friend overseas be hard? What are some positive things about it?

Not being able to hug her or physically comfort her when she’s sad, or be there with her when she feels alone. I wish that we could do things that normal teenage friends do sometimes too. By far, the hardest thing is probably worrying about something happening to her. Some positive things are that we text a lot and that I am lucky enough to be able to visit her often. I have gotten to learn so much about different cultures and languages (and good foreign foods) through her.

How do you guys connect on a regular basis?

Mainly texting. I whipped out my phone today during school to text her, and someone made a comment like “Are you trying to write a book or something?”. It’s true though, sometimes we send each other really long paragraphs to fill each other in on our lives, haha. I also pray for her and feel really connected when I do. I definitely believe that God has so much to do with our relationship. We also do devotionals together and connect that way.

Is there anything that you would have done differently when Rose moved if she/he had to do it all over again?

I mean… I might lock her in my house and force her to stay with me instead of moving but… other than that, I can’t think of anything! No, I’m just kidding. I wouldn’t do anything differently, though it would be extremely hard for me to not lock her away, and prevent her from going.

Is there anything that you would like to add?

Hi mom! I’m on The TCK Times!

Thank you Ann for taking the time to answer all of those questions and for just being a great friend!!!

As you probably know from personal experience, every relationship changes and evolves differently with time and distance, and that is what I wanted to look more in-depth at through this series of articles! I think that being a teenager naturally comes with friendship changes, and well, being a TCK doesn’t exactly help things stay the same. Change can be good, though, and helps form our character. This is a friendship that I value because we have managed to grow closer, but I don’t think that that always happens- in fact, I can’t think of another friendship where we have grown closer through the difficulties of distance. It still isn’t easy, that is for sure!

Keep an eye out for the next family and friends interview, coming out in April about a very different kind of long-distance relationship.

If you are looking for ways to connect with friends that live far away from you, check out the posts here, here, and here about long-distance friendships.

If you want to be interviewed for The TCK Times, shoot us an email at tcktimes@gmail.com. We always love to hear from you!

Bye for now,

Rose