If you line up all my friends side by side, the world will be bewildered with a kaleidoscope of colorful people. It will be a sight to behold like a lake of fallen leaves in autumn. Sometimes, I give myself a pat on the back for having found a way to be part of the lives of these people --- some of whom are single-mothers, professionals, blue-collars, drop-outs, rich, poor, catholic, atheist, dark, fair, gay, straight, virile, frigid.
These friends have surrounded my life with stories as colorful as the lives they live. I have had the privilege of being the only ear to savor the juicy details of things illicit and allowed. I have been trusted with very personal information that can make or break a person. I have spent time drenching a friend's tears and at the same time trying my luck as a stand-up comic in my effort to lighten up things. I have been frequently dumbfounded with some facts that were shared to me in confidence. And I have probably drank hundred liters of coffee by now listening to all my friend's pains and anguish. There are times that I start to ponder, this may have been my life's calling or vocation: To make a difference in other people's lives.
Tomorrow, I will travel three hours up north with another friend to be at funeral of our friend E.'s mother, who succumbed the other day to renal failure. We will be there because we deeply feel occasions of loss like this. We will be there because that's probably where we should be of most help. We will be there because we believe friends should never be allowed to go through painful moments alone. We will be there, not because a favor has to be repaid, but more because we try to be our friend's friend.
I don't know what words can offer comfort to my friend E. who may be in deep sorrow as I write this. I don't even know if they are ever within my realm of ability to feel and provide. But this one I know, that I have to be there as my modest gesture to prove how friendship works.
No comments:
Post a Comment