Once a friend, always a friend

 They stand by you, spreading their arms like wings for you to fly again in case you're wounded or just don't have strength enough. They sing back the song to you that you once believed in but during a rough time of life you forgot. They put you back together in one piece. They listen to you patiently without being judgmental. They're the people you'd confide in when you've made a mistake or screwed something up big time. They'd lend you money to buy present for your mom when you run out of your pocket money. They're like your umbrella under which you can just stand,without having to say a word,without having to explain, without having to prove anything; just stand under them until the weather outside is all pleasant again. They are your siblings from other parents, some call them their sisters, some call them their brothers, some call them their love and some just call them by just one simple yet very powerful word - "Friend"

Friends come in all shapes, sizes, species and genders. One relationship which has absolutely no boundaries is that of friendship. It can thrive so strongly even when you're thousand miles away. You can find a friend in your dad, mom, brother, sister,cousin, uncle, aunt, husband, kids, a complete stranger, a pet and even a good book. No other relationship is this versatile. 


Although my cell phone has about 70 contacts yet when I am happy or having a bad time in life, I search up and down my contacts to see which ones I'd like to talk to at this point and I stop at one or maybe two of them. And when I do make a call to them, many a times one of them is busy and the other one is at some part of the globe where it's the middle of the night and she's unreachable. When we grow in our lives, geographical and marriage-related differences do happen among friends. When the time came to say farewell to the college years, which also meant many friends will go separate ways, I said to a friend of mine (in response to her sadness that we're departing) that "The 5 years of college that we've spent together, going through successes and failures together and trying to carve ourselves for the same profession, that time is enough of a foundation for our friendship to stay healthy and strong for the rest of our lives. There will be many times in future when I won't be there for you and you won't be there for me because of the realities and practicalities of life but what WILL be there with both of us at those times is the "belief' that we are there for each other in our thoughts and the memories of all those times when we WERE there for each other and that will be enough to get us through that tough time".


The point I am trying to make here is this: There comes a point in life when we don't call our friends as often as we used to when we were in college, when we forget some of their birthdays, when we have to hang up the phone or go offline because the kid is crying or husband just got home even though we know that our friend on the other end needs us right now, when we miss our best friend's wedding because one of the friend's moved abroad and she can't travel because of visa issues etcetra etcetra.. Don't ever start complaining and sulking and whining that 'my friend is not the same anymore' or 'she has more important people in her life now'. Accept and embrace the change in your friend's life and don't judge and screw up your precious friendship on the basis of these inevitable occurrences. So what if she forgot my birthday just one time, I'd think about those many birthdays that she made so special for me, so what if she cannot be physically 'always' there for me as she used to be back then; I'd think about all those times when she held my hand and made the storms of life bearable for me. NO reason is big enough to create distances between two friends and ruin a  friendship that you nurtured with so much love and care.   


Cherish all those people always who have made even a little difference in your life, who've been your friends even if it was just for a day.