Memory lane

The past couple of days have been a trip down memory lane of sorts, meeting up with people whom I have not spoken to in a while, and it has been mighty fun. After last Thursday's dinner and dessert, I met up with another close friend yesterday.

We went to Chinatown because she had to book a trip for her family to Genting over the long weekend ahead, and I decided to go check out the prices of tickets to Canada for myself and my parents as well. After that was done, we just walked around the place because she had another appointment to keep in the evening, but did not plan to go home before that. And it felt just like the last time we did this kind of thing together, just walking around, updating each other about our lives and talking about serious stuff occasionally. On top of all this, there was, of course, the usual verbal jibes between the two of us. I enjoyed it all.

On the way home after my afternoon of wandering, I bumped into two other friends whom I have not seen in a while. I talked to both quite a fair bit, before leaving with the customary promise to stay in contact.

Today, I spent the morning cleaning up the clutter in my room, and I stumbled upon a lot of stuff from my friends past and present. Old birthday cards, Christmas greetings, letters, short messages, photos and the lot. Some of these letters were from friends with whom I have not had any contact with for years, despite our assurances to each other to stay in touch.

Sometimes, friendships just die a natural death. The lack of shared experiences after we go along on our individual paths makes maintaining a friendship awkward, because there really isn't all that much to talk about anymore. There is a gradual decline in communication, and eventually, it just becomes uncomfortable to talk to that person at all. Yet with other friends, the lack of shared experience does not seem to have any ill effect on the relationship. With some friends, occasional meet-ups seem sufficient for maintenance. Even though we have our own lives to lead, and problems to solve, picking up where we left off is effortless.

But no matter whether a friendship lasts a week or a lifetime, our friends will always leave an indelible mark in our lives, no matter how small, and even though sometimes, our parting may not have been amicable, we still remember the days when we were friends.