Old friends – timeless and priceless

3:57 AM ARGUMENTS, EXPERIENCE, PEOPLE 1 Comment

How many of you still in touch with your childhood friends? Not expecting all of them, but the ones that you shared everything with; laughter, joys, anger, tears, sadness – and I meant everything.

If you still do – good for you. If you don’t – you probably have lost some part of yourself.

Typically when a person grows up, it seems inevitable for relationship (in this context, friendship) to change. Very true that as we grow older, priorities change, needs change, and of course the ability to keep up with the changes may have direct (or even indirect) impact to one’s life.

I too had a fair share in this story – where friendship had changed, when we were embarking to a journey called adolescence.

Early this month, a friend; whom I first met about 15 years ago, texted me. She was organizing a small eat-out; some sort of gathering, for 5 of us – whom used to be known as a pack in high school.

The last time a gathering was organized, they had to missed me out – I was on evening duty, could not make on time. This time, we missed another – she had to attend to family matters. Out of five, three had gotten married; one is on the way to tie the knot, and me – the single and available girl. Seeing the faces, we all had grown up well.

I found two best friends in recent years – post high school. However, they can never beat these four beautiful ladies. On top of seniority – number of years they and me had befriended, these are the girls who break boundaries when I need an internal boost. Childhood friends are often unique in the sense where everything about that relationship is built on a base of non-biased and utmost trust. The image of a friend will always be the ‘kid’ who offer his/her hand to you. It was never complicated, back then. And it will always be simple – no matter how.

Strange, but true – we are no longer close to each other like we used to be. Personal, career and family commitments change everything. One of them now has 3 children, while others with one daughter or soon to come. I don’t gossip with them anymore, and they don’t chat to me often anymore. Yet, when all of us sit around a table – we are teenagers again – somehow.

I cherish them full hearted. No matter how far I go, how challenging things can go off for me, deep inside me still harbor that genuine thoughts of these wonderful girls. I don’t need to call them up in the middle of the night to calm myself. What needed is a quiet time alone – closing my eyes and remember back the time I used to have with the girls.

Sometimes it is hard to understand what ‘old’ friendship can do to ones life.