My friends are probably the most important aspect of my life second only too my family. There are some friends that can just never be replaced. i always think of this quote from a song by Baz Luhrman:

"Friends come and go

But with a precious few

We should hold on."

And it is so true. I went to school in a small town in Mpumalanga, but currently am at varsity in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape. Essentially I am 1600 km away from there. And to make matters worse I was at boarding school and half of my friend were from different countries. The gap in geography made it quite difficult to keep in touch.

But the few, very important friends always made the effort to keep in contact no matter how far away! In fact the two people I speak to most often from school both live in other countries, one in Swaziland and the other in Botswana. It is at times like this that you realize who your true friends really are, because only the very special ones will continue to make an effort to keep in contact.

Then at the beginning of this year, tragedy struck, and my father passed away. Two weeks later, my then boyfriend left for a different city and we had to call it off. Since then three of our dogs have died, we were broken into, my one friend's dad passed away, another friend's mom passed away and yet another friend's granddad passed away. To say that this year has been a rough year is a gross under statement!

I'm not sharing this because I want pity. I am sharing this because all of this has taught me a very important lesson! Because three and a half months later my "best friend" from school still doesn't even know that my dad passed away!

Every now and again life will give you hell, but it is at times like these when we realize the true value of family and friends and we begin to appreciate them more than we ever did before!

And God Forbid you mess with my friends!!