Friends for Life

It’s that time of year again when good-byes are in the air… I’ve always been emotional at partings though now, more than ever, I am able to think of life’s partings with faith and hope.

I really believe now that no matter what happens in future, nothing can diminish what was once true between friends. In a multitude of ways, my friends have left their hand-prints on my heart for life and that is something that nothing can erase. :)

Having said that, I’m always been immensely touched when friends express hope or confidence that we will still be friends when we’re old and grey… I know that life contains so many uncertainties, and that we all change… while it is always my hope that those dear to me will grow in ways that keep us in touch over our lives, I know that nothing in this life is certain. It is not for lack of desire or faith that I say this, for I believe that our commitment to be true to ourselves and the lives that we lead should take precedence over efforts to keep a friendship going.

Those close to me will know that I love passionately and sometimes with an intensity that even though restrained can be overwhelming to some. (I am infinitely grateful that God has given me a husband who thinks my full passion and intensity is a walk in the park :P) Letting go has never come easy to me, but this past year has helped me immensely in understanding that letting go was never the goal, but merely one of the natural consequences of loving with faith and liberty.

Good-bye will never be easy for me to say. And I will miss and remember with affection all the times we shared… the laughter and the tears, the ridiculous and silly moments as well as the times we spoke and listened with serious sincerity. The words spoken but perhaps even more, the love we gave one another in silence.

9 years ago I would never have known that I would make such significant friendships in Toronto. Well, I did. And I’ve certainly learned a LOT about myself, about life and about friendship in these years. When all has been said and done, I am glad that I have nothing to regret for I have always loved as truly and as best I could.

There is one friend I am particularly grateful to. Quietly confident about herself and about our friendship she is. She’s not particularly verbally expressive, but she looks out for me in so many ways, often without letting me know. She may be younger than me, but in the last year she has looked after me with such unobtrusive and consistent care that I almost feel I have family here. When she said tonight that she can see us still being friends when we’re 50(+), I was touched almost to the point of tears (yes I am a sentimental idiot when it comes to such things). :)

She’s not the only one I hope to be friends for life with. I bear that hope even as I am realistic, for a genuine friendship grows and adapts and does not take any single form… and is not limited by time or distance. So, to all the friends I am going to say good-bye to when I leave at the end of the month, here’s a song dedication for you!

jose-carreras-sarah-brightman-amigos-para-siempre-friend.mp3
Sarah Brightman & Jos̩ Carreras РAmigos para siempre (Friends for Life)