03 May 2009

A superbly designed piece of metal...

... was stretching far into the distance. The platform alongside was almost empty. Just a cleaner here and there, someone with a cart driving food, a girl talking on the phone just outside the door, ready to hop on any second. Most probably the last call in UK without anyone else overhearing it. Everybody was already on the train as it was almost time for departure and the only sound was the humming of the engines. I stood there looking at the train, reflecting on the weekend gone by, friends in general and in particular.

I have spent a great weekend. Weekend of talking, reviving memories, having drinks, eating, dancing, lying in the park, reading out laud,.... weekend with friends.

I guess one can categorise friends in many different ways. In my world, the groups need to go in line of:
- Friends with which I'm connected through great memories and loads of fun moments but now live in a world which sometimes feels quite distant.
- Friends from London with which I share work/interests and spend the most time with.
- Friends which I made during my involvement in BEST and live scattered around Europe.

There are people in all of these groups who are extremely important to me and I would go to great lengths for them. But friends which always create a storm inside me are friends from BEST. Although most of them do not know that much about my past, they know about the period, for which I would say, most defined my current me. And at the same time, these are also people with whom I share very similar interests/views/values and are at similar stages in their lives. Even people who I haven't really spend much time with before (but we do share common stories and good friends) always have an impact - some of them even more powerful! ;)

So I stood there, leaning on the fence, thinking of people who shaped my life until now and people who I really wish will be adding pieces to my puzzle in days to come. My mobile beeped and it was a text from friends who were leaving London with the train in front of me. The lights on the board at the side of the train switched on. I quickly typed a response and the signal light turned green. As the train started pulling of the platform I pressed send and watched the back of the train disappear into the distance. With each second my throat felt narrower. A certain emptiness settled in. I turned around and walked down the stairs; back into the tunnels of the London underground system. I didn't put on my iPod which would normally play music to reflect my mood and clear my head. No, I didn't need it. Although I felt empty, I was happy - happy because I spent some brilliant time with them, happy because I felt alive, happy because they were (or at least they seemed) happy, happy because I rediscovered some people, happy because I'm certain I'll see them again. And happy because I knew that I'm going back and having dinner with another good friend.

Friends, thanks for being out there! And specially to those who think they are in groups one and three - you are always welcome here if I'm not visiting one of you somewhere.

The obvious way to end this post would be with Queen or The Rembrandts. But this is a song (specially this cover, if we take out the BBC part) that for me sums it up very nicely in a bit different way.

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