A story of friendship…

Some people come into our lives and quickly go.

Some people move our souls to dance.

They awaken us to a new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom.

Some people make the sky ore beautiful to gaze upon.

They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never the same again.

I am lucky to have had many wonderful friends in my lifetime. Some friends like Mandy (bridesmaid)…have been in my life for as long as I can remember….because we met at preschool aged four. Now Mandy is in London now and we do not see each other very often but when we do we can pick up from wherever we left off without any issues. We know each other well, and we know each others families….we will always have an invisible string tying us to each other. She has been there forever and she will continue to be there forever…

Other friends like Cat (maid of honor) & James (best man) came into my life by chance when we were all at the same university in Tokyo on exchange. I may never have met them otherwise but can not imagine my life without them now. They are such a big part of my life and when I am in Tokyo I rely on them so much. They are my support network away from home (along with Shun of course) and they are part of the happiest memories of my life. Would we have been friends if we had met briefly under different circumstances? Maybe but I think it was the situation we were in that made us so close and what has kept us so close….

Other friends, like Nay & Sarah, came into my life through this very blog and the fact that we were in similar places in our lives. While I have only met Sarah once for a long weekend and Nay only a handful of times (and all three of us have never been together in the same room before!) these two girls will be in my life forever. Last night,  we were talking on Skype and it wasn`t until it got to 11:30pm and I realized that more than 3 hours had passed. I count on these girls to be there when I need to chat, to send messages back and forth and to plan our futures (like a trip to Izu later this year, hey Nay and a trip to Niigata to meet Sarah`s baby in the summer!) and bounce ideas off! We may never have come into each others lives if it wasn`t for blogging and our love of our Japanese men…….but am I glad they are in it? Definitely!!! I wouldn`t have it any other way. Even though Nay will be in Shizuoka, I will be in Chiba or Tokyo & Sarah will be in Niigata that doesn`t matter- we might only see each other every other month once I am back in Japan but it won`t matter because we will always have the plans in place for our next trip to visit!!!

On Friday night I caught up with a friend, Dani, and we went off to the Brisbane comedy show at the Powerhouse to see Adam Hills . Dani & I are very similar and for this very reason we had a falling out near the end of  high school and only reconnected again a couple of years ago. We will finish each others sentences, laugh together at stuff that nobody else would find funny and can sit around chatting for hours over a bottle of wine or two and some nice food. I could go months without seeing or speaking to Dani (similar to Mandy) and then we would go out for dinner and things would just pick up from exactly where they left off…

Clarie, my best friend from high school (and another bridesmaid!),and I were inseparable from ages 13-16….hour long phone calls after spending all day with each other at school, sleepovers,  letters back and forth, shared secret crushes and many a drunken nights!!! We took family holidays together and shared the same hobbies…we have both grown up so much since we met yet our friendship has stood up the changes and we are still very close. Clare is now in Mt Isa for work and we only catch up when we are both home in Brisbane which is not as often as I would like. Clare was part of a group of friends in highschool I now have nothing to do with…..in fact Dani & Clare are the only two highschool friends I still see at all. I admire people that have kept the exact same friends from highschool that they had while there were in highschool because while I had close friends at school I am no longer in touch with any of them. If I saw them out I would stop and say hello but we have nothing in common anymore and it is just fake niceties that we exchange. But this isn`t the case with Clare….Clare was there the first time my dad got sick and she &  her family has done so much for me over the years (and my brother incidently enough- Clare`s brother and my brother were the same age and are very close, even now)…

I have lots of best friends now. In primary school & high school I thought the goal was to have ONE bestfriend…the friend you shared everything with, did everything with & was always there. Some of my best friends from my childhood are still in my life (namely Mandy & Clare!) and some are not there at all anymore. I now know that that isn`t what friendship is…..I have a collection of friends, some of whom make up my best friends…all of whom I love dearly and who are all in my life, leaving footsteps on my heart. I hope you will take time to think about the friendships you hold dear to you and remember what friendship is about….

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