I have always been an introvert, probably because of the protective environment in which I was encased as a child and a teenager. I have been never good at making friends and after a particular age I just gave up!
My earliest memory of trying to make friends is that of trying to help everyone with their homework. There were many shirkers who would come to our class without doing their homework and I would offer to do it for them!
Then I had to change my school and was at sea, sitting alone in one corner when this girl (who later became my best friend) approached me with a question…friend, what is your name?
What an easy way to make friends, I thought but I could never learn it.
I have a very limited number of friends and I can count them on my fingers but I can proudly declare that they are my true friends; I can fall back on them and they would respond immediately.
Digital world has been a blessing for me! I found it so easy to make friends online and I have made some wonderful friends. Thinking of meeting them has been out of my imaginative expanse.
Sometimes reality knocks at our imaginative ingresses louder!
One such doorway opened last week when I met Joe and his vivacious wife Becky.
Joe Perrone Jr. met me through his blog and I liked his witty style of writing…more so as he took pleasure in laughing at himself.
I didn’t even know where he lived till I happened to mention that I would be visiting Asheville. A few instant clicking of our digital devices and there we were…face to face, shaking hands, sharing lunch and ice-creams along with never ending conversation, which was as vibrant as dear Becky!
Joe asked me are you ba..roop, I replied BaLroop, with a stress on L! And the laughter that cheered our hearts still encompasses me.
Earlier, when I told my husband that we were going to meet one of my blogger friends, he said ‘what would you talk’…oh we would see, said I, almost to myself and convinced him that it would be fun. Indeed it was!
I didn’t have to think what to talk as the conversation flowed so spontaneously that we forgot we had met for the first time…it was like meeting old friends after a long time and catching up with all the stories we had to share.
Never was there an awkward moment, which we often face when we meet an acquaintance. Not a word appeared out of place. I give all the credit to my dear friends Joe and Becky and their art of conversation.
Many topics were discussed, the most interesting being how he met his wife Becky, the prettiest and the most charming face, having the brightest eyes behind those spectacles.
That day I carried some profound lessons in my heart:
- Friendship is not counted in the number of years we spend together but the mirthful moments of delight it offers us.
- Friendship evokes your inner virtues through honest conversation.
- Friendships can never diminish by distance.
- Some gifts are such, which only we can give to ourselves.
Thank you for reading this. Please share your valuable reflections about your friends.
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Balroop Singh.
