My Childhood Sweetheart

We were and are till date as different as you can imagine... both in our thinking and physical attributes; with one being the rebel, impulsive and the shortest person in our classroom and the other one being level-headed, conservative and the tallest. We should have repelled, instead we were inseparable. People predicted we would not last together another school year. We were scared of one going to the next grade and the other one staying behind. We made it together through Pre- K to the 10th grade. I thought we had both moved on, settled in our own lives and was content with not being so much in touch. It was better that way as mostly we criticized and corrected each other. I was wrong. We also supported and listened. I was the outgoing personality - yet after 6 years of being in touch superficially she called me to say she missed me.

I am talking about my best friend. We did take the pinky swear to be BFF forever and ever. I have been thinking about her lately; since the day she called me out of the blue to say hi; to tell that she missed me. She asked me if I still looked the same, have I put on weight, if my hair is still short, am I still boyish? What she was asking me was I still her BFF. Most people will be surprised that she asked me about my appearance- hasn't she seen your picture online. No- she is still an internet virgin and when I mentioned about e-mailing - she replied "who has the time". I stopped myself from chiding her about keeping up with the world. We were both all positive talks. Treading carefully.

My childhood best friend - now a mother of 2, an ardent devoted homemaker has accomplished her dream. "My life is accomplished", she say, "Now my only goal is to take care of the kids and make sure they go to good colleges and get married". I bit my tongue when she said that. She is still shy of 30. I remember she talked about becoming an air hostess. She imagined flying all around the world with layovers between flights during which she would visit new places. We had concluded with her height it should be easy as all air hostesses need to be tall, pretty and well- mannered. She only doubted on the pretty part. I was confident about that too.

She is also one of the best artist I know. In college she use to take art tuition (on my insistence). She enjoyed it and dreamed of running her own art academy one day.I envied her and still do- she has a passion and a talent and I still have not discovered what my true calling is. I was always the rebel factor in her life- pushing her to seek what she liked and be independent. She gets the credit for infusing practicality in me. I was an impulsive brat. I am a better person because of her.

She has not sacrificed her possible career, she just adapted to reality, she says. She chose to derive joy in taking care of her family and sticking to the traditional norms. I respect and admire her choices. I am very happy for her. I only hope that if she called me wishing I would rekindle the rebel in her and push her to do more for herself; I could be the support she is looking for. I am sure, we will start the arguments and questioning after a few more 'just calling to say hi' calls. I look forward to her prying questions and useless gossips.