Friend #47 & 48 - Cynthia and Christopher
The bride and groom
Cynthia and Christopher tied the knot three weeks ago. I recently wrote about my wedding date, friend #45, Violette. Frankly, I foolishly thought that after the big day, we would lose touch but I’m beginning to discover this might be the start of a new phase of friendship.
Cynthia and I met when we were 16 at a French camp between the eleventh and twelfth grades. It’s also where I met friend #31, Parisa. Anyway, we both quickly connected over matching morning routines and every day I would knock on her door at 7:40 am to go to breakfast before French classes.
It was one of the best summers of my life. The first time I had a big group of girlfriends that did absolutely everything together. The first time I had friends cry at the thought of missing me after the five weeks. I promised myself that we would remain friends and we have.
I have a talent for remembering to reach out to people and the confidence to do it. I’d write to Cynthia often and we took two trips together in the years that followed—one to Montreal in 2017 and one to New York in 2018.
On Halloween of 2018, I went to go visit Cynthia at Western University and she shared in a half-secretive manner that she had met a man—Christopher. A happy-go-lucky law student.
Then we graduated and there was a strange period known as COVID and now Cynthia and Christopher are married. The two live in London, Ontario but this weekend, they came for a swim in my backyard pool.
We chatted about the wedding and Christopher took hundreds of photos of Cynthia and me. “That’s what I’m here for driving and taking pictures,” Christopher joked.
I don’t think that time apart from a good friend weakens a friendship. Love is not a light switch that turns off because of time or distance. Of course, the couple lives a two-hour drive away and may soon start a family but that doesn’t take away from the fact that I love them. G-d willing, one day they’ll dance at my wedding.
But like in romantic love, platonic love is also a choice. It’s a choice to remember someone’s birthday or what ice cream they like or a song they may enjoy listening to. It’s a choice to pick up the phone. I’m a firm believer that friendships can also be revived. Especially old friendships. There is an undeniable comfort in old friends that is hard to find.
“Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it inflames the great.”
―Roger de Bussy-Rabutin
Internet Browsing