jam-on-toast

My Dear Friend

My Dear Friend
jam-on-toast, May 19, 2021
Description:
Kit used - This is Us and March'21 Money Saving Bundle
The ten-year anniversary I must document in two months' time... This is an awesome headstart :)

491 words

Dear Magali,

If it hadn’t been for my impulsive decision to say I’d come rollerblading with you we might have never become friends. To this day I remain perplexed as to WHY I did what I did, because a couple of hours later I was standing in a sports store eyeing the funny-looking boots with wheels attached and berating myself for having gotten into what would certainly be a total mess. I was not wrong. It WAS a mess, and a very painful one too. I doubt many people would call me a show-off and I definitely am NOT a sports fan… but for some reason I can’t fathom to this day, I kept my word and came rollerblading with you. On that fateful day ten years ago, as I - gasping for air, every muscle in my body screaming in pain - collapsed on a bench 10 minutes after we’d met, our friendship began.

You dragged me into countless Pilates and yoga sessions and introduced me to lengthy walks and endless conversations. We had two years of seeing each other twice a day every school day during school drop off and pick up. On most days we’d meet up later in the day to do something together. And we’d talk. About life, children, school, cooking, living in a foreign country, being a stay-at-home mom, husbands constantly away on a business trip, and putting marriage and family first before anything else. You drove me nuts wanting to drive me everywhere. You were the first real friend I had had in my almost 20 years of nomad’s life. I was happy.

And then you moved. We haven’t lived in the same country for eight years now. Not even on the same continent. Time zones are a bummer for FaceTime and long distance separating us makes it impossible to visit often. I am so grateful to our respective husbands who were willing to invest money, time and emotional energy into our visits and too became friends in the process. We’ve celebrated Christmas in Japan, combed grave-yards in England, shopped for tomatoes in Finland and enjoyed a glass of French wine in Czechia. You’ve flown ten thousand kilometers to visit us in China and we’ve driven 1,400 to have a bowl of bouillabaisse in Marseille with you. You’ve stood you up – royally – in Singapore and you’ve crammed us in the back of that Citroen. Ours is a friendship that can go the distance – literally – and relies on quality, rather than quantity of visits and chats.

Together we’ve done some crazy things like fly to London for lunch at a Taiwanese restaurant. We’ve also done something as ordinary as walk around the house in silence. I look forward to our weekly – more or less – onnomis where we talk about COVID and how it had better be gone by Christmas 2021 when you guys are coming for a visit. Fingers crossed.

Loading up my Zoom,

Olga
Electra and zakirahzakaria like this.