Talking on the phone

When I was younger, I spent hours talking on the phone. The calls often went late into the night (despite having just seen the person or having spent the whole day with them). It didn't matter. We'd talk about who knows what and sometimes, we'd even sit on the phone while watching the same television programs offering the occasional comment or two.

These days, my calls are few and far between. I'd rather send a nice letter or an email (though, there are a few people I do try to touch base with more often than not).

Last night, I talked for almost 3 hours on the phone with a really special person that I'd spent a large part of my life with during University and the years that followed. She was my one of my closest friends (my BFF, in fact!) and the only person that I ever seemed to truly connect with in terms of humour and level of comfort. We could rely on each other for so many things - whether it be to spend an hour or two at a pool hall or going for drinks, sharing very intimate details about our lives, being supportive during trying times, laughing for hours on end or being brutally honest (no matter what). It was a significant friendship and the kind that could never be duplicated with another.

As with many relationships in one's life, it changed...for many different reasons. We went out into the world, experienced life, and perhaps, needed time to grow into our own skin and (maybe) in order to do that, grew away from each other. Whatever the case may be, we found ourselves back in touch - mainly through cards and emails and occasional meetings throughout the years. And then, last night, we found ourselves on the phone...just like old times.

It was a great feeling and after so many years, it was like there was never any distance between us. I realized how much I missed her - her laugh, her wonderful sense of humour and just HER - and I hung up the phone with a smile. Of course, our lives look very different from those formative years of adulthood but underneath it all, our kindred souls are still the same.

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

- Marcel Proust