There are days dedicated to love, mothers, fathers, beer, HIV / AIDS and even the growing of moustaches.
Yet, the all-important International Friendship Day -- the foundation of human interaction -- is often forgotten.
It's such an underdog.
I ask in my group chat "Just the Boys" to see how much they know about International Friendship Day.
Carl the dense one -- who doesn't remember his mother's, father's, brother's birthdays, and who doesn't know the difference between Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji -- responded with an icon of a girl who seems to be shrugging.
Stanley my sex bunny friend who is very in tune with worldly affairs, current affairs and all other types of affairs, responded with a gif of a half-naked man who seems to be shagging.
"All hail friendship day," Stanley wrote.
"@Stan are you making this up," Carl asked as if Stanley were a scammer who's about to make him wire money to an offshore account.
And so in the spirit of friendship day, I want to dedicate this blogpost to the people in my life who may not be related by blood to me, but have become my loved ones.
They say you can't choose family.
But when it comes to my circle of friends, one has full control.
And I'm glad I do.
Today, if I were to clutch my heart and fall gracefully and die from a heart attack, I know I'll have four pallbearers who had verbally promised me they'll carry my coffin.
I'm not joking.
I had this conversation many years ago with some of my friends.
Two of my pallbearers are familiar characters in this blog.
Stanley my sex bunny friend, and Terry my straight best friend.
"I hope you die of a disease that shrinks you to bones," Stanley said matter-of-factly when I asked him if he'd carry my coffin if I died first.
In keeping with this spirit of friends who'd go all out to love me, here's a little list of what I love about them.
Nisa
Best girlfriend since Sec One
Nisa is whom I'd describe as someone with big love. And she expresses it with actions. Always showering friends with homecooked food, gifts that add value to their lives -- like traditional Chinese medicines that nourishes one's health. And always literally going the distance to run errands for them.
Terry
Straight best friend since Sec One
Terry is the one who introduced me to endurance sports like marathons. He's one of the country's fastest runners on record, but whenever we run a race together, he never overtakes me, always pacing me from start to finish, encouraging me to never give up -- just as he does in real life.
Stanley
First my NS pal, and now one of my best friends
Not only is Stanley the protagonist of my blog, he's also one of my strongest cheerleaders in life who would never fail make me laugh, drive me around whenever I needed him to, would never judge me for whom I am.
Carl
One of my first IRC friends
Carl may be dense but when you truly need him to wake up and save the village he gets the job done. Carl's not the mushy group-hug, air-kissing type of friend -- in fact, his love as a friend is very much that of a traditional Chinese father. He loves you, but he doesn't show it.
Sasa
One of the pillars of my universiity life
I first met Sasa in university. At the campus bus stop, I remember clearly. I used to call her Bimbz -- short for bimbo -- because she has a giggly squeal and laughs at almost every damn thing. Life without Sasa in uni would have been very dull. But how Sasa has grown. She's now a successful career woman (living the life as a tai-tai on weekends) but she's never lost that girly, hearty laughter. I see Sasa as the best of both worlds. To others, she's that intimidating Devil who Wears Prada but to me, oh, if they only knew.
Bella
My first work friend, my first work wife
We always have one of those -- best friends from work whom we refer to as our work spouse. Except in my case, Bella and I never snogged in the office pantry, nor swept the office table clean of stationery to have a quickie. Bella has a beautiful voice and we hit it off when we hit the notes at office KTV sessions. Soon, Bella and I shared more than just work problems with each other, and we grew so close that although we're now world's apart (Bella moved to the US with her husband), we still keep in touch to keep the care and love going.
There are, of course, a lot more people whom I'm thankful for and this list is non-exhaustive.
Cliché as it's gonna sound, I'm gonna leave some space here.
Because my future will be filled with more friends to come.
Happy friendship day guys.
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Adam's stories are based on real life events and inspired by real people
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