Saturday, July 26, 2008

Going Away Parties


Most people have heard the saying "friends are the family you choose", in my case, my friends are my family and the best part of my life!!! I love all my friends dearly and I just feel VERY blessed to have so many people that care about me.

Because of the small family that I had, I've always had fake aunts, uncles and cousins :-) To me, that's "normal" (is it really???)...

Now, in part due to sad situations and me being "family-less", I've REALLY discovered and valued my friends... I'm fortunate enough to consider and be considered by some of them their sister... And I can say that I have some of the best friends ever!!!

There are many examples of this, but today I'll focus on the last days and all the love that they've showed me now that I'm moving:

On Friday night I was supposed to go out to dinner with my girlfriends from College... I got there and I was waiting for them outside on a bench when I saw that Hooli, my best guy friend, sat next to me!!! I was very surprised but I thought it was a coincidence, he was with his fiancee and Hugo (another of my college friends) and his wife; Hooli told me to go inside with them so I asked him "who are you guys with?", then he said "who are YOU with?" so I said "Claudia" and he just said like "oh, well, come inside with us"... Pitt (Claudia's boyfriend) got there next, then Claudia, Junior, Sammy... I thought that was everybody!!! And I was VERY happy to see a lot of my friends from College!!! Then Angelita (we went to Jr. High together) showed up, and I also thought she was there with someone else LOL... Yeah, I'm THAT naive!!! She brought her friend Martin, and she was also with Marysol (I've known her since before I can remember we were neighbors and grew up together) with her husband Mario (I went to Kindergarten with him and him and Marysol and our wedding godparents), but that was not it, after a while another of my College friends, Javier, got there!!! I guess it was then when it hit me, they were ALL there to be with me!!!

We had A LOT of fun!!! Just like in the good old days!!! And although the good-byes were sad, it was wonderful to feel the love of my friends who showed up to wish me luck on my trip and on my future job.

Today (Saturday) Tessa and Dani had helped plan a Going Away Tea at "Tea upon Chatsworth", I had first been there for Tessa's birthday in February and REALLY liked it. Five of my good friends for San Diego (who I originally met on The Knot, and now go to Book Club and other social activities with) Amanda, Dani, Janelle, Melissa and Tessa went.

The tea was delicious, and I bought 2 types to take with me and the food was really good too!!! After that, we went to Fashion Valley and shopped around, unfortunatelly I couldn't buy anything anymore since I don't have enough space to take all my stuff as is. We then went to Nordie's Cafe for one last dinner there and we all had the their delicious tomato and basil soup.

All this reminds me about a song by Whitney Houston (I believe the song's name is "Your love is my love") that says "if tomorrow is judgement day, and I'm standing in the front line, and the Lord asks me what I did with my life, I'll say, I spent it with you"... I just know that when ever my time comes, I will be happy and glad for all the time I spent with my friends, no regrets. You'll regret spending too much time at work, not going on vacations, not calling your family enough, but I hope I'll never have those regrets, and that my friends and family know how much they mean to me, how much I love them and that I'll do anything in my power to make them as happy as they make me.

Love,

Pilar

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La mayor parte de la gente ha escuchado el dicho "los amigos son la familia que uno escoge", en mi caso, mis amigos son mi familia y la mejor parte de mi vida!!! Amo a todos mis amigos y me siento SUPER bendecida de tener tanta gente a la que le importo.

Debido al tamano tan reducido de mi familia siempre he tenido tias, tios y primos postizos :-) Para mi, eso ha sido "normal" (es normal de verdad???)...

Ahora, en parte debido a situaciones tristes y a mi condicion de persona "sin familia", he descubierto y valorado REALMENTE a mis amigos... Soy super afortunada de considerar y ser considerada por algunos de ellos como una hermana... Y puedo decir que tengo unos los mejores amigos del mundo!!!

Hay mucho ejemplos de eso, pero el dia de hoy me voy a enfocar en los ultimos dias, y todo el carino que me han mostrado ahora que me voy a mudar:

El viernes en la noche se suponia que iba a ir a cenar con mis amigas de la universidad, llegue al restaurante y estaba esperandolas afuera cuando de repente Hooli, mi mejor amigo, se sento a un lado de mi, Hooli venia con su prometida y con Hugo (otro amigo de la universidad) y su esposa!!! Yo estaba muy sorprendida pero pense que era una coincidencia; Hooli me dijo que nos metieramos y yo le dije "pues con quien vienen?" y el me dijo "con quien vienes tu?" y yo le dije "con Claudia" y me dijo algo asi como "ah pos vente" y pos me fui :-) Estabamos ahi y llego Pitt (el novio de Claudia), luego Claudia, Junior y Sammy... Yo pense que ya eran todos!!! Y esta SUPER contanta de ver a muchos de mis amigos de la universidad!!! Al rato llego Angelita (mi amiga desde la Secundaria) y tambien pense que habia ido ahi con otras personas jajaja... Si ASI de ingenua (o wey) soy!!! Llevo a su amigo Martin y tambien venian con ella Marysol (mi amiga desde antes que tengo memoria, era mi vecina y crecimos juntas) con su esposo, Mario (yo fui al Kinder con el, y el y Marysol fueron nuestros padrinos de velacion en la boda), pero no eran todos, un rato mas tarde llego Javier, otro amigo de la universidad!!! Y creo que fue entonces cuando finalmente me di cuenta que TODOS estaban ahi para despedirme y estar conmigo!!!

Nos la pasamos MUUUUUUY bien!!! Y nos divertimos como en los viejos tiempos!!! Y aunque la despedida fue triste, fue maravilloso sentir el amor de mis amigos que se reunieron para desearme suerte en el viaje y en mi futuro trabajo!!!

Hoy (Sabado) Tessa y Dani ayudaron a planear otra despedida aqui en San Diego en un lugar que se llama "Tea upon Chatsworth", la primera vez que yo fui ahi fue para el cumpleanios de Tessa en Febrero, y me gusto MUCHO. Cinco de mis amigas de aca (a las que originalmente conoci a traves de The Knot y con las que posteriormente he estado saliendo al Club de Lectura y a otros eventos sociales), Amanda, Dani, Janelle, Melissa y Tessa fueron.

El te estuvo delicioso, y compre 2 tipos para llevarmelos, y la comida tambien estuvo muy buena!!! Despues de eso fuimos a Fashion Valley y anduvimos de compras, desafortunadamente yo no pude comprar nada porque de por si ya no me cabe la ropa en las maletas que me voy a llevar, luego fuimos a una ultima comida al Cafe de Nordstrom, y todas nos comimos una de sus deliciosas sopas de tomate y basil.

Todo esto me recordo a una cancion de Whitney Houston (creo que se llama "My love is your love"), que dice "si manana es el dia del juicio, y estoy parada al frente de la fila, y el Senor me pregunta que hice de mi vida, voy a decir, que la pase contigo"... Se que cuando llegue mi hora, voy a estar contenta y agradecida de todo el tiempo que pase con mis amigos, sin remordimientos. Podras arrepentirte de todo el tiempo que pasaste en el trabajo, de no haber tomado vacaciones o de no llamarle a tu familia, pero espero no tener ese tipo de remordimientos, espero que mis amigos y mi familia sepan cuanto significan para mi, cuanto los amo y que voy a hacer todo lo que este a mi alcance para hacerlos tan felices como me han hecho a mi.

Con amor,

Pilar

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