Blessings

I received a wonderful piece of news from my longtime friend back home: "I'm getting married! My Chinese wedding is in June....", she announced excitedly over the phone.

I was so happy for her that I wanted to fly home, hold her hands and give her a breathstopping hug.

We have known each other for 15 years and have kept in close touch, despite having attended different colleges after being classmates for only 2 years, and embarking on entirely diversed career paths. She deals with money and mind-boggling figures, while I would struggle with lives and deaths in antiseptic environments. We helped each other through our emotional and physical turmoils, sharing our challenging work and social lives. She is always the more matured and sensible half, ever so unassuming and calm, while I am usually more hot-tempered and impatient. We have met each other's families and formed close-knitted alliances of permanence. I visited her father when he was hospitalised for a heart condition, whilst she and her mum would research actively into depression when my dad was inflicted with it. She was one of the first to know of my desire to venture abroad and I always appreciate her valuable advices and encouragement.

I was heartened to know that she had finally found the Right One. After years of encounter with boorish and arrogant Singaland male species, it was he who eventually touched her dainty heart and set it soaring sky-high. She would talk about The One with inner bliss exuding from every pore and radiance illuminating the whole room. Their wedding, though relatively small-scaled, would perhaps be one of the more sincere and heartwarming that I would have attended. Pray that my annual leave would be approved again.

I have been invited to countless weddings since my graduation, mostly of colleagues and mere acquaintances. I have since learnt to be more selective, and never cease craving to be part of my best pals' joyous celebrations, with the truest intention and best wishes. Having missed one of their ceremonies in December when I was here was definitely one that was peppered with a sprinkle of regret and guilt.

I have heard of former best pals who turned their backs against one another in times of need or even a simple wedding, and am never panged with pity or loss for them. For a true long-lasting friendship has to be built on a concrete foundation of genuine love and concern, not one of convenience and coincidence. And certainly, time is never a sole and crucial factor if sincerity is lacking right from the start.

Henceforth, it is my utmost wish that my dearest friend would chance upon this column, embraced wholeheartedly with my blessings and congratulations, that she may attain real happiness and contentment in life.

Not forgetting that I would be the very first in the queue to be the godmother for her bundle of joy to come ;)