What is a Friendship?

Friendships are strange things.

This weekend I went and visited my friend and roommate I met this summer, while I was studying in Mexico for five weeks. I had a great time visiting her at her school, and it was fun to see her again. However, although I'm sure we'll keep talking throughout the year, I probably will lose this friendship eventually. It may sound pessimistic to say that, but to me it's the truth, and it's not a bad thing to stop being "friends" with someone.

Sometimes it's just seems odd to me, how some friendships are so temporary, yet they make a big impact on your life. I may talk with my roommate from Mexico for awhile, but I have no idea how long we'll be friends.  We might not make the effort to visit each other again, or we could persevere and become long-life friends.

I had a friend in middle school who I was literally wasn't even friends with for two full years, but we hit it off great. Three and four years later she came back to the D.C. area and I visited with her again.  We were very different people, from very different backgrounds. She had a military life-style, constantly on the move, and grew up in a catholic setting. I always lived in Fairfax county, with a mother who told me hell wasn't real and spoke about reincarnation and communication with "the spiritual world." And regardless, we had strong similarities that made our friendship meaningful and significant; both of us were father-less, and we had the same since of imagination and playfulness about us. We discussed concepts and philosophy (or what we thought of philosophy, at only being 12 years old). For some reason she made an impact on my life, and she's just one of those people who I will always remember, and I don't know why.

My roommate from Mexico, who I visited this weekend, may also be of the same sort.  I think of how now I hardly talk to anyone who went to my high school, and it's only been a little over a year. It's interesting how friendships fade, and we meet new people. It's also interesting how some friendships never seem to falter, even if you only see the person once or twice a year.  I think either way these friendships are important. Whether or not it's someone who screamed and yelled at you and stopped being your friend, to whether it's that girl who's stood by you since you first met.

Either way, it's important not to regret relationships.  Even if it ends badly, every person who you interact with impacts you, and their relationship to you is significant. I still care about my friends from the past, and although I may not talk to them now, I wish them the best in life.