An Imprint in My Heart

I was just browsing on facebook since I had some time to spare before I call it a day. The thing I enjoyed most about facebook is that I get to see many photos uploaded by friends. Pictures do tell a thousand stories and you would assume from the photos how your friends have been keeping. Of course, you will never be able to tell the sad side of their lives because everyone only puts on their most beautiful photos on the net for another's pleasure viewing. Nevertheless, I am satisfied to learn that people I know are doing fine judging from their photos.

I then caught a long lost friend of mine through facebook. I asked if my friend has MSN, no was the answer. Why not? I thought. "Dunno" was the reply. What a peculiar answer, I thought. Hm... that leaves me no choice but to chat through FB. I have a slight dislike for chatting through FB. I find the bopping sound whenever a message comes out, annoying. Still, I had wanted so much to chat with my long lost friend that I couldn't care less about chatting through facebook, whatever it takes to get hold of my friend and update myself with stories that I've missed out.

When finally we concluded our conversation, I said to my friend, "You are a good friend, remember that" to which my friend replied, "You left an imprint in my heart, remember that."

I was so taken aback by those words. It was so powerful that it just hit me in an overwhelming way. It's just wonderful and reassuring to know that my presence in this world actually meant something to some people, especially my friends. I also happened to learn from C.S. Lewis that there is apparently 4 kinds of love. With my family, it's storgē, with friends, it's philia. There's eros too which involves physical love and with my husband, it's a combination of philia, eros and agape. After talking to my friend, I'd experience one of the strongest philia I've ever felt for a long time.

Time to time, we do need emotional reinforcement such as this. One of the reasons I don't make many friends is because if I know our friendship is going to be superficial, I'd rather not have one. A strong friendship needs constant nurturing, a mutual understanding shared by both. This however, is not easy once true friendship has been developed and over time, lack of nurturing and distance can add strain to the friendship. Still, it's understandable when life is so demanding, that it's quite difficult to hold the friendship as priority. But I do believe that once true friendship is forged, it will always remain in my heart.

My friend, I cannot thank God enough for making our paths crossed. I haven't been a great friend and I hope you'd forgive me. I wish you all the best in life, from the bottom of my heart.