Do you have that friend, who no matter what you do, is better at it than you?
She has been in China half as long as me. She speaks and writes Chinese fluently. Mine has regressed to the point where I ask our ayi (nanny) to “Please help me find the thing that is next to that other thing over there.”
Her baby slept through the night at three months. She listens, reacts swiftly and appropriately. She’s always a step ahead. Mine are up all night, jealous, fussing, drinking, and peeing. I have to keep reminding myself to listen, to be really present. (some yogi!)
Her writing flows, it’s alive and interesting. I feel this from the short stories that she emails. I started this blog a few months ago and man do I struggle with many of my posts. Framing the words and sentences into what I really mean to say takes time.
Bring up any topic from parenting to computers to the environment and she has intelligent, interesting opinions. I’ve always been a little disconnected.
She’s a genuinely nice person. She takes care of those who are close to her. She spent the evening with my parents because I had stuff to do. Nuff said.
Of course, our friendship isn’t as simple as a comparison. We share mutual respect, and love.
I am grateful for that friend who keeps me real.
Natasha Devalia 
I have a friend like that..
I talk a lot, often using the wrong words, forgetting the initial question. She’s quiet..she’ll just say a few words, straight to the point, full of wisdom. Sometimes I realize there’s a deeper meaning a few minutes later…
I takes me over an hour to write 10 sentences, she writes articles, blogs and even put together a little recipe book for her family.
Her family, like mine, lives thousands of miles away but she’s very close to them in many ways, talks to them frequently, never forgets birthdays, anniversaries, holidays. Me? I forgot my dad’s name day yesterday..
When it comes to parenting, she’s my reference. Anytime something is troubling me (even if she’s on vacation with her family), I call her and she always comes with an answer that makes so much sense that I wonder how come I didn’t think about it before asking or doing hours of research on the internet.
Although she has two toddlers, she finds the time to practice her yoga, blog, take online courses, surf the internet, stay in touch with friends, chat, skype, organize the house, cook for everybody, do activities with her kids and still look calm and relaxed every time I see her. She’s definetly not like those hyper mums than run like crazy, or me.. stressed by the thought of doing a simple task with just one tiny baby that doesn’t even walk or talk.
I feel so lucky to have her in my life, she inspires me, I love her and respect her.
I talk to her almost every day but I forget to tell her how much she means to me
Thank you for reminding it to me with this post.
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You finally going to start a blog?!!
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I don’t have your flow my dear ;-P
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You have your own!
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Just what I was thinking, I’m sure she’s in awe of you…. two babies and still able to blog eloquently, to think carefully, to be grateful for her friend as well as in awe of her. Ah, it never does to compare, cos there are always people above and below us… easy to say, hard to do when you’re sleep deprived!
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Thanks a lot for that thoughtful comment Seana.
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I imagine she would say the same of you 😀
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