Unique Friendship

Our friendship is over four years old. It started as a standoffish student-teacher acquaintance when I taught an advanced ESL class where he was one of the learners. He is an introvert type of a person while I the other extreme. The world we live in dictates a few cultural boundaries but it didn’t matter in the end. I couldn’t befriended him because he was my student and I was like too way older (twenty-two years worlds apart). And so this is the rarest picture of a flourishing friendship you would probably see–at least where we are as regards this sort of thing. Last night, we had a long talk over the phone. It was not a peculiar one, but it was the first in a month. We chat a lot until these days. We could talk forever despite our personality and age differences–but not our opinions. There were times when I thought that he really thinks matured than I am.

I still find ways to keep in touch with my learners in the past for as long as they are within reach, but this guy is the only one who is very consistent corresponding back. Through social media such as Facebook and messenger, through sms and phone calls, and through various meetups, we have been keeping this bond all these years. Where I come from, we call it a gift from above. And I am grateful eternally for this greatest treasure that I received. “I can be your father since we can’t be friends.” I told him years ago. He just laughed because he knew what that means. From a student, then he became like a son of mine. And as the years rolled by, he became my confidant–now he is my best friend in the entire world.