Cheers to friendships molded during pivotal life moments.
If I were to choose the most memorable year of my life thus far, I'd say it was the year I spent living abroad. I can write countless paragraphs about my experience, but the purpose of this post is to highlight the special relationships I formed during that year.
Just as high school sports teammates and college roommates bond over life events, so do people who meet while living abroad.
There's something magical about experiencing something with someone in another country and then seeing that person in a completely different country or context. What makes it so special? Maybe it's the commitment to the friendship, regardless of distance. Maybe it's the connection that we make between location, events, and conversations. I'm not sure. What I do know is that reflecting on the memories and the connections will eventually cause my eyes to fill up with tears.
Although my eyes are currently void of tears at the moment, they were not so dry the past two weekends. I traveled to Canada and Santa Cruz to be present at my friends' weddings.
In Canada, I was thrown back into reminiscing about the best time of my life. Israel. Kibbutz Yotvata. 2006. People from around the world. Chopping tomatoes for hours. The onion factory. Late night visitors. Hebrew. Laughter. Desert hikes. The list goes on. My friends who got married had met on the kibbutz. While they found their future mate, I found friends for life. When asked if I knew the bride or the groom, I could proudly say that I knew them both and that I was there when they met. That of course led to a discussion about life on the kibbutz and usually a comment regarding how great the experience was. Four years after going our separate ways we're still friends. I met their family members who they had talked about while in Israel. Their real-life worlds collided. I'm confident that we'll always be friends and that our friendship will travel the world. As I sat in my seat on the airplane from Vancouver to Los Angeles, I thought about the fact that I didn't know when I'd see my friends next but that the mini-reunion had served as a reminder of the best time of my life and it was an experience that can now be added to my list of special moments.
The following weekend I drove 7hrs to Santa Cruz, California. There, I was thrown back into reminiscing about Greece and the first days that my adventure abroad began. Vrahati, Greece. The house a group of teachers shared. The bed two strangers/soon-to-be friends shared. "Delaying the Real World" - the book a fellow-adventurer and I had packed in our suitcases. Gyros. I drove to Santa Cruz for the fellow adventurer's wedding. Another friend who lived with us in Greece flew out from Texas to join me as a bridesmaid in the wedding. Again, people asked us how we knew the bride. We told them we met in Greece and that my friend had lived in Greece and Italy at the same time as the bride and I had lived in Greece and New York at the same time. We spent the weekend laughing and slightly wishing that we weren't all so transitory. I drove the 7 hours back to Southern California and spent a good portion of that time reflecting on the weekend and the special bond. I definitely shed a few tears. The wedding was amazing and the time catching up with friends were priceless.
"I wish we could be everyday friends," said the friend who had come out from Texas. I agreed and loved the concept of an "everyday friend" as opposed to a friend you have an amazing time with in the rare and special moments that you get to spend time with each other.
Everyday friends. Maybe one reason why I sense the special bond I share with my friends that I met abroad is because we're not currently everyday friends. However, I know from living in New York that having my abroad friends as everyday friends is still really special.
In the end, all I can say is that I feel fortunate to have AMAZING friends in my life. Friends who will always appear in my daydreams of good memories. Friends whose journeys through life will continue to weave through mine.
L'chaim (to life) and to all of my friends - my everyday friends and my transitory ones!
