True friends are rare

Even if Friendster had been overtaken by Facebook in terms of usage and popularity, I still did not delete my Friendster account. I thought of deleting it already to stop stalkers from finding me since I'm more active in Facebook anyway, but I didn't. And that was a good thing, because if I did, I wouldn't have found this:

From left: (standing) Maita, Irene; (sitting) Monica, Me, Alariz;
(not in the photo) Jessica

That's my high school barkada. The photo was taken during our senior year, shot at Heights Studio, which was a stone's throw away from our school, St. Theresa's College Quezon City.

I don't believe in the "best friend" label. It connotes that there is just one friend that stands out among the rest of your friends. But what if there's none who stands out, because your friends are equally dear to you? Each of them has a unique characteristic that makes her different from the rest of your friends, but it doesn't mean she's your best. Instead of having a best friend, I'd rather have a close bunch which I call true friends. Best friend ties may be severed throughout the years because of distance, but the thread that binds you to your true friends will not.

My friends in the photo (and Jessica) are the ones I talked about in this post. A huge chunk of my high school memories includes mornings, recess, lunch breaks, and phone conversations with them. Add to that are the outbound trips and other out-of-school activities which I'm sure we would reminisce with a smile over tea and pastries after decades, when we become grown women, successful in our chosen fields.

I had the chance to see Monica, Maita, and Jessica last December when Monica came here from Australia for a visit. We no longer look nene, and we've matured. But as friends, we're still the same - never putting each other down, happy for the things that make each of us happy. It might take us another year to see each other again, or it might again be difficult for us to arrange a date when all of us are free. But until then, we will take comfort in the fact that we are each other's true friends, and neither time nor distance can change that.