masterwordsmith-unplugged

Seldom in life do I find people with whom I can connect and hold a lively conversation for hours on end. Don't you feel that when you make a connection with someone, it is so exciting because it signifies the start of a beautiful journey called friendship? Needless to say, sometimes the journey may be wrought with bumps or stops along the way but yet, we cannot deny that these people enrich our lives in more ways than one.

To build long lasting friendships, one needs acceptance, understanding, tolerance,much love, compassion and patience, without which the association would then be regarded as acquaintances or a historical episode in our journey on earth. For me, when I forge a friendship, I would hope that it is for keeps but as I age, the more I realize that it gets tougher as the years go by...Expectations change, past experiences can haunt and then there are other complicated matters...Only time will tell who is real, who is not, who is a friend and who is a true friend.

That is certainly a precious lesson that I learnt recently. It is uncanny how one can weave in and out of different seasons of friendship. While recent encounters have left me wary and cautious of some characters, I am all the more appreciative of those whom I regard as friends...

The worst is saying goodbye to people I love be it because they have departed to the other side, another state or a different country. Indeed, saying goodbye to those I love is very painful. I have lost a number of friends who succumbed to various illnesses in the last few years. Nonetheless, it is amazing how some I have known for decades and others I have known for a few months have major places in my heart.

Last night I had the opportunity to spend a lovely evening with a few friends who are precious to me and it was most invigorating for me as I hardly ever socialize safe for relatives and those former students who return to Penang. One of them is leaving Penang today and I don't know when I will see her again.

Indeed, life is short but it is made more beautiful with people who have dotted our lives with unforgettable moments.

Sometimes, I wonder if I had been a hamster in my previous life for I love solitude like hamsters do...Yet, when in the midst of good company and people I love, then it seems as though that social part of me ,which is largely dormant, is resurrected. Making conversation as though there is no tomorrow most certainly rejuvenates me. In fact, I was so mentally stimulated and happy that I did not sleep till 4 a.m. this morning, pottering around in the kitchen, cleaning the house and of course - blogging!

I guess I felt happy for last night, I communicated without fears or inhibitions and felt safe and secure with them whom I love and trust with my whole heart and soul, knowing that yea...these are very real people in my life and that they don't wear or change masks when communicating with me. I brought my camera with me but did not take a picture - perhaps subconsciously, I feared that looking at the picture might be too painful for I know not when all of us could get together again like last night...

Yet, I thank God for each of them and would like to dedicated the following song, which I actually wanted to sing to them last night, especially to her who is on her way home, but I did not because I feared I might turn emo halfway ;), and I also want to dedicate this song to all my friends, blogger friends and blog readers who have stuck with me through thick and thin, through all the mistakes I made in my life and still call me friend...Thanks to all of you for ...

* being very real, patient people
* teaching me lots about life
* helping me to be wiser
* making me laugh so much especially the one who offered to clean up my Little Green Patch in my Facebook account
* giving me the space to fumble, the grace to forgive me for my tumbles and the silence for me to sort out and learn from the way I stumbled....

So today, I just want to dedicate the following song "FRIENDS" by Michael W. Smith (whose life and music have greatly influenced me) to all my friends who have been with me through thick and thin. It is not that I am feeling emo today but it is because I have lost many loved ones recently and I know the brevity of life and how precious it is and more importantly, how certain people have added so much value to my life because of who they are and what they have done for me, be it directly or indirectly. I have sung this at so many farewells and made many cry, myself included but I have selected this version instead of the recorded version because there is something poignant about seeing Michael W. Smith playing and singing and appreciating his facial expressions and body language that serve to embellish the depth of feeling and meaning of this, my favorite song...and also the next song "I will be here for you" and I will do just that just as you were there for me in the worst period of my life...

Well, the song says it all...but thanks - for being in my life and for all that you have done for me, for leaving an indelible mark in my life and most of all for the gift without ribbons you have given me - friendship. Hugs and love to all of you always...God bless you all always!