The thing about friends

Alhamdulillah I am blessed with many friends. Many friends helped me along the way and I honor and pay my tributes to them for their patience, love and everything we shared during our times together. But as we travel the road to growing up, we have changed, or evolved to become individual persons and our paths may not necessarily cross. Time limits us further with family obligations or work, or simply distance-wise, is not helping in fostering those friendships further.

What to do when you have time to pick up the phone to call your friends? Which friend do you call? I call those who are dearest to me by the number of years I've known them. Or try to find them online. And usually, it is quite easy to pick up the pieces. But what if the pieces are.... awkward? Like finding out your buddy is crowned for a beauty queen pageant (mrs category or not) when your only passion in life now is to protect THAT beauty! Like finding out your old friend is knocked up and 3 months pregnant and that person who was responsible for it just left upon learning the truth? Like knowing from someone else that your best friend took off the hejab only after a year to go 3 steps back? How can I ever feel peace and joy when I talk about these friends ever again?

As I'm trying to live my life, and move forward, how do I deal with friends from the past? Truth is, there is nothing in common anymore. They know I will accept them no matter what, I will be around if they need me. But friendship is a 2-way thing, isn't it? I want something back too. I want friends who inspire, not depress me. I want our conversations to be about Allah, or always in constant reminders of Him. I want to praise Allah with them, reciting Masha-Allah, Subhan-Allah, Allah Akhbar at every slight blessings. I want to make dua's for my friends like they make dua's for me. How differerent things have become now. How different things are in Riyadh.

I miss Riyadh. I miss my sisters in Riyadh.

May Allah help my friends who are in trouble, and may Allah bless my friends who loves me for His sake.