Something happens on the inside as you get to know people over time. It is slow and imperceptible at times, but it happens. Along the journey these people become closer and closer to us. They are the people that mark our lives forever. They change us for having known them. They are our friends.
Today I write, saddened, but heartened. Saddened by the eventual, inevitable outcome of losing something so very precious. Heartened in the knowledge of just how much they enriched my life while they were here.
Who were they? Three amazing Mexican girls.
Leticia, Breezy, Me, and Estela.
Three girls who enriched my life completely during their time here. Two came for the missions school. The other had been around as long as I have, coming for our DTS course last year. Each one special. Each one different. Each one will be forever remembered.
Breezy
A gentle rebel, with a soft heart. Someone who was always ready for a chat.
She spoke English almost as well as Spanish, and sometimes we would end up speaking true conversations of Spanglish, slipping into and out of the two languages every several words. The chats we had were about nothing in particular, but about everything in general.
We spoke about things that were happening to us at the moment, about our opinions on the way things were or rather should be, and about future plans and hopes. Not all of our chats were this deep and meaningful however, but it was always fun to chat with Breezy.
Leticia
What can I say about my dearest friend. Leti had been here since the beginning. A girl with a contagious smile and a heart of gold. Someone who continually grows in stature the more that you get to know her.
Leti never let on that she knew English as well as she does, but we worked it out soon enough when we caught her smiling at our jokes. Only those that understood English would be laughing, while all of the Latins would be none-the-wiser. However Leti was always sitting there laughing with us, masking her smile behind a big coffee cup or something.
One of the things that I really appreciated about Leti was our times of chats. Her favorite approach was to come up to one of us and greet us with, "So Rob, como es la vida?" which means "how is life?" We all got that treatment, and she was not one to shy away from the occasional deep response either.
That was our friend and classmate, Leti. Her friendly and gentle nature touched us all.
Estela
A sweet and sensitive girl with a big smile for everyone. She is such a mum. The one thing that she offers which few resist, is a big hug just at the moment that you need it most. I guess she has just got that sixth sense for it.
I was priviledged to meet Estela's mum, and saw where Estela got all of her gentleness and kindness from. Her mum is just as huggy and bubbly and fun to hang around too. What a great family that makes.
The good thing is that Estela is coming back again. The only one of the Mexicans that will return, albeit only for a while.
Seeing Double
It seemed that during their time here, our strongest friendships were between us, Chris, Lehman and me, and the Mexicans. So with this in mind, it is surprising that we did not see what Leti saw any earlier.
It was only days before she left, that Leti explained to me how she saw a similarity between us all. The comparisons were drawn and came out pretty accurate too. Chris and Breezy, with their somewhat rebellious attitudes. Lehman and Leti, both being organised and ordered. Estela and me, being touchy type of people.
The comparisons went much deeper than that, as acknowledge by each person that knew us as they heard it. It seemed rather uncanny that these similarities existed, but then it made perfect sense too, and seemed to explain why we all got on so well all of the time.
Farewell
So to these three amazing Mexican girls, to them I say farewell - and thank you.
Thank you for all that you brought into my life during the time that I knew you. Thank you for your brightness and joy. Thank you for your friendship. I will be changed forever for having known you. You are my friends.
You always will be... my friends.