"I'll keep a part of you with me, and everywhere I am, there you'll be"

There was no school on Friday due to a Hindu holiday, Diwali. All of the TTI (Teacher Training Institute) girls went home for the weekend, leaving me, Serene, and Nini (both of whom are students at the nearby Speechly College) alone in our hostel. Let me tell you, this place has never been so quiet!

Next door remained Gracy Kochamma and the nine younger girls, who were not allowed to go home since they have more exams next week and were supposed to dedicate the weekend to studying. I can in retrospect tell you that it’s been a LOT of playing, with some studying here and there. Friday morning, though, they were studying, and Serene and Nini were napping, so I found myself in the rare circumstance of having nothing to do and no one to hang out with. But thanks to Maggie, I had a few dvds laying around, and decided to watch ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’ I’m not sure how it’s possible, but I had never seen it before.

You know, it takes a REALLY good movie to make you cry from happiness. The end, it just got me!! Does it get you, too?

Clarence the angel’s parting note—‘remember: no man is a failure who has friends’—got me to thinking about mine, and how much I miss them. I thought of my roommates—my married friends—my soon to be married friends—my pregnant friend!—my college friends, my childhood friends—my study abroad friends—my adult friends—KIBA!!—my family, who are also my friends—my friends, who are like my family.

Friends, this one’s for you. I miss you every day. Thank you for being part of my life.

“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” –Helen Keller