Friends . . .

I recently spent the weekend with some of my oldest and dearest friends from boarding school. I went to boarding school at the age of twelve as there were not any high schools near Hollands Track Farm in Newdegate where I grew up. Boarding school is not for the faint hearted, but it does certainly build resilience and forge  deep friendships which endure a lifetime.

The “girls weekend” is an annual event and very keenly anticipated. There is something cathartic about just being able to be yourself with friends who have journeyed with you throughout those often turbulent, troubled adolescent years. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not, because these friends have seen you as you really are, warts and all and certainly know what you are not!

It is very relaxing just to be able to be yourself and the shared history of common experience lets you operate on a deeper level. There’s a lot to say, but I also love the easy silences these girls create for me.

Friendships such as these are some of life’s richest blessings. As CS Lewis wrote: “Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another : “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”