| :: TO THAT SPECIAL BUDDY OUT THERE... :: You shared the pathetic sand patch that passed for a playground since you could toddle, lost your first tooth together, suffered through long afternoons of piano lessons. At school, interminable chinese lessons and the ferocious Huang Lao Shi were tolerable only because he was there to pass you notes with funny remarks, and of course, your first soccer goal would never have been possible if he hadn't made that brilliant pass. You approached puberty cautiously-hand in hand, agonised over your first crushes and went on group dates. Together you experiments with the neon-hair, pierced-body parts look, consoled each other through fighting bouts with parents and troll-like siblings, and made solemn vows that you would be friends forever. Best friends... you could never imaging life without that one constant buddy you know would stand by you no matter what happens. And through your tumultnous teen years, they could be a refugee and a source of comfort for all the difficult times you'll go through. I remember my best friends from secondary school and poly with much fondness, and sometimes looking at those almost-yellowed photographs of our days together brings back the sweetest and most poignment memories. Our marathon chats on the phones (as well as the equally marathon pig-out sessions), the dreams we shared, the sleepovers, the inside jokes and our secret codes that bound us together, separate from the rest of the world. In those idyllic and idealistic days, I never imaged that we would not be friend forever, but as we took different paths after poly, we never quite shared that same closeness over again. It makes me sad that I now hear news of them from friends of friends, but I also know that it would be unrealistic of me to expect that we could ever go back to being the kind of friends we once were. Too much has passed for us to share our lives together the same way, and we would have little in common perhaps to even sustain a conversation beyond polite small talk. Best friends occasionally "break up", this way-slowly drifing apart with neither one realising it, but sometimes friends break up dramatically, one terrible event being the catayst, that ends, the relationship. However it happens, it is all too easy to just "let go" It is also worth remembering that there can be few things sweeter and more comforting than a true confidante and friend. Friends are a lifetime commodity but unfortunely some of us never realised they're also a lifelong commitment. As we embark on a brand new year, here's to creating happy memories, making new friends and keeping old ones. |