All of us have friends, all kinds of friends. Some of our friends are for the short term while both of us have "excuses" to remain friendly such as friends at school, at work, or any other similar circumstances. On some occasions these short term friends may develop into long term relationships.
I am blessed to have a few such friends where we started became friends in primary school, continue to secondary school and kept in touch during college and cement the friendship when we started working until now, more than 40 years after our first meeting. I also have friends that I first met during college or during my working days and keep being friends still.
But I do not have family friends. What do I mean by family friends? These are friends but they are more like family. Normally when we have friends, they only know us or at the most our spouses. However, family friends are not related to us but they know us just like family, even more so at times. They are not only friendly to us but they know our children, our parents and siblings too. Similarly, we and our family know about their family as well.
My late father has a true family friend. I do not know how they became friends (I regret not asking my father about this). Both of them were policemen in Singapore before independence. All of us know each other so well. Their children are more like brothers and sisters to us. My late father and mother would go to them whenever they have problems before going to their siblings.
When my late father was in KL Hospital undergoing his chemotherapy, I knew one of his friend's daughter visited him more often that I did, bringing home cooked meals for him and makcik who was looking after him. She is definitely more family than our real family.
My late father-in-law also has a family friend of similar stature, although I'm not in a position to know too much details. But this guy used to work for my father-in-law when he was the Director of Hospital University. Even after his retirement, their friendship remain in tact, in fact it was further strengthen maybe because my father is law was no longer his boss. Until now, without fail, he and his whole family will at my father-in-law's in times of sorrow or happiness. In fact when my father in law was hospitalised for quite an extended period and we had to take turns to sleep at the hospital, his name was also in the list of volunteers.
So far, I have not been able to establish any strong family friends despite the fact that I have quite a number of close friends but both our families have not been able to get into the act.
I know it is indeed a privilege to have family friends and I should I should work at achieving this.
.
3 comments:
I'm on my way of making sure i have some family friends too... :-)
Salam, along, orang dulu-dulu bila mereka merantau jauh dari saudara mara di kampung, jiran-jiran mereka dianggap sebagai saudara. Arwah ayah dulu, semua jiran-jiran di kuarters polis sudah macam saudara, seperti Arwah Pak Cik Said (yang tinggal di Duyong) jiran sewaktu di kuarters Ama Keng. Pak Cik Tik jiran sewaktu di kuarters Bukit Panjang dan Arwah Pak Cik Ahmad ( yang tinggal di Air Pasir) jiran sewaktu di kuarters Delta Road. Arwah ayah juga selalu ziarah mereka sewaktu di Singapura mahupun setelah mereka pulang ke kampung, oleh itu hubungan silaturrahim tak putus. Inilah amalan yang patut kita contohi.
Arif: I'm quite sure you are on the right way. I can see that you have quite a few friends that have the potential to be family friends.
Sallam Ajah: You definitely have a better insight of the way arwah ayah conduct his relationship with his friends in Singapore. So, please write about these events.
Post a Comment