This wonderful thing called Friendship

I'm blessed. Very blessed, in fact.

For many reasons of which I am well aware of. But today, in particular, I was made acutely conscious of one specific beautiful gift.

The gift of friendship. 

A really good friend -- let's call him Jack (not his real name because he once told me in jest that if he ever made it into my blog, he wanted to remain anonymous) -- was a real gem of a buddy today. 

Jack and I first met almost 10 years ago. We were then signing a good part of our youth to what would be our first career together in the same company.

We first started to bond as newbies, plunged into a local environment and struggling to adjust to a corporate world, after having spent a few years in the US and having our brains liberalised by 15-hour school weeks, freedom of speech and global travels.  

We both loved (and needed) our morning coffee fix and a jaunt to the the pantry soon became our workday morning routine. Our friendship was built on 15-minute conversations each day, over steaming mugs of coffee and eyes still beady from lack of sleep.

Even after our careers took divergent paths, Jack and I kept in touch. He was my go-to buddy in the office, and even outside the office, our friendship was (and still is) solid. 

Jack knew that in the last few weeks, I was having a really rough patch dealing with home care matters for my mother and juggling my full-time job.

He had a few days of time left to himself before he started a new job. He messaged me today to offer any help, be it running an errand or watching the house.

I was so grateful. There were so many things I had to do at the same time, but I couldn't be everywhere all at once. I felt bad taking him up on his offer on his day off, but I knew that I needed the help.

Jack didn't have to offer his time. He could have just offered a word of support, or even none at all. 

In fact, he even had to make a detour because I initally gave him the wrong address to run an errand.

But he did it all without grumbling, not even jokingly. And his simple act of kindness gave me the space to take care of other pressing matters.

Man was not created to be a lone creature. Even God fashioned woman from man's rib to provide companionship. And that's what our existence is really all about - our relationships with our fellow human beings. 

Not just boy-girl relationships, or parent-child relationships. But also the simple, fundamental concept of platonic friendships.

Of like-minded people who may not have had the natural privilege of being related to one another, but who love you not despite your flaws but in spite of them.  Who stand by you in your best and more importantly, in your worst, of times; put an arm around your shoulder and help you hobble through the pain and difficulty when the terrain gets rough. And who don't ask for anything in return but the intangible gift of your friendship.

Thank you, Jack. You know who you are :)