Buddy

I got excited when I saw this morning’s writing word prompt of the day, ” buddy” this is the second  prompt I’ve responded to that personally means something to me. Why you ask? 2 main reasons.

The word buddy or friend means a lot to me, I’ve reached the age of 33 and I’ve honestly learned that friends come in all shapes and sizes, races and ages they also enter and exit your life for lots of different reasons. But what’s important  about friendship / buddies I’ve learned at 33 is  1. what  you learn from  a friendship  /buddy 2. how does it help move you forward or have you realised this friendship is holding you back 3. your true friends make themselves known to you in many ways, and your deadbeat tag-a-long buddies who really do not enrich your life, or never there for you, believe in one-sided friendship or even worse are secretly competitive or jealous also show their true colours; and it’s up to you to decide whether this is the kind of buddy you need in your life. I’ve shed 1 girlfriend like this I can count in 33 years.

Around 2 years ago, I also learned that friendship can be maintained via letter  as in you’ve never met or even spoken to this person, in some cases never even seen a photo! Yes hand written  personal letters sent millions of miles across the Atlantic and Pacific ocean just once or twice a month can really seal a friendship or bond with a buddy but you’ve never even met or spoken to. There’s something special about this type of buddy /friendship made when you click via letter and you can’t wait to hear back once you’ve stuck your international stamp on  the envelope and sent your letter off.

 I have mentioned before in my reflection #1 post how grateful I am for my overseas girlfriends who I write to, these random women of different ages and races some who speak French  we write in this lovely language to maintain my fluency/ bilingual ability  to practice. Some who don’t speak a word but we have common interests and connected via letter writing forums and write in English. For the last 2 years I can count buddies I’ve made in the USA, Canada, France,  Germany,UK, Austria and as far as Australia who I have ”spoken to” via letter solidly for 2 years and I would say yes she’s a buddy! Amazing as a writer I feel letter writing should not die.

last weekend, guess what? I had the real pleasure of actually meeting one of my French pen buddies from Paris when she came to London with her husband ! After almost 2 years of writing back and forth our friendship is sealed, last weekend to actually hear her Parisian accent and have a conversation with her that did not take weeks/ months to finish was amazing. This year  over the summer, I also hope to meet another UK pen buddy when I travel  down to the English coast for a holiday.

The second reason this word buddy means a lot to me personally is because in my book I’m  about to finish writing this month, the main character’s story is ” shown” a lot through her exchanges with her buddy, so the whole concept of a buddy is a main feature  which helps to progress  my story lines/ drama I’ve plot out for my main female character in my book. I like the word buddy, it means a lot, personally and creatively as a writer it’s helped progress my creativity in writing. 

 Did you know that us Aquarius star sign folk are meant to be the most loyal of all star signs when it comes to friendships/ being a buddy? I’m the world’s biggest pen buddy nerd, I don’t actually care… judge me LOL, this is part of my life and I don’t intend to stop writing to buddies that I may not ever get to meet. As my son grows older, it is something I would encourage him to think about too as a child making sense of the world as a way to learn about the world and different cultures, which has been a great experience for me.

So reader, what do you think about friendships via letter? Do you enjoy a more slow paced friendship / buddy building with people and have pen friends all over the word? Have you ever thought of finding a distant buddy / pen friend but been too scared of looking like a nerd? What does the word buddy mean to you?