Human beings are social animals. We form bonds for survival. Instinct drives us to find fellow people sharing the same interest in our lives. Who is my friend for life? I have been blessed. Many people have just one best friend, others simply cannot find even one true friend. I have 5 girlfriends. Two of them have been friends with me for over 20 years. The other three friends, joined our group about 10 - 15 years ago. They are my friends for LIFE.
L for Loyal
It is a two-way relationship. We have a "all for one, and one for all" attitude. When we were studying in school, we were always found together. We were known as the 3 musketeers. This doesn't mean that we never disagree. We each have our own views, sometimes we do not share the same opinion. This makes us more all-rounded as we each present another side of the picture. In times of trouble or a life-changing moment, we are there for each other as a sounding board or even as a life-line. When we had boyfriend troubles and if the trouble lies with the boyfriends, we would go to the extent of confronting them.
I for Issues
We all have our issues, from children to husbands, from being single to being separated, even mother in-law troubles, from colleagues to being a stay home mom. When we come together, we share with each other our joys and worries, as well as our deep dark secrets (fortunately we are all not well-known personalities, otherwise, what we know of each other can be used as blackmail to bring the other party down!). Sometimes, at the end of our sharing session, we would see the light to some of our issues and feel enlightened. Other times, we would just simply feel like a burden has been lifted off our shoulders by just merely sharing our woes.
F for Future
At times when we think that we had a tough week, and we are ready to throw in the towel, we share our lives and what we hear from our other network of friends and find inspiration. We discuss our plans for the future, where we would be 10, 20 or even 30 years down. We always have a good laugh and say that at last maybe then we would buy houses near each other and finally be a stone's throw away from each other to keep an eye out for each other in our old age!
E for Experiences
Despite the fact that we are close friends, we have different demographics. In our group, we have singles, separated, second marriage, childhood sweetheart, mixed racial marriage, childless couple and a big family (mine!) We each bring to our group something special and our personal struggles in our daily lives. We share our views, give advice to each other based on our observations in our other network of friends.
We will stay by each other in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. But looking at each individual in this group, I think we will find a way to meet each other from infinity and beyond.
