The One #274

I’ve always been an optimistic person, but somewhere last year, everything went south. I wasn’t even close to being hopeful. It felt like everything I wanted didn’t even want me. And so I started crawling back into my hiding place. I wasn’t sociable anymore or as present as I used to be.

I didn’t want to involve anyone because I knew everyone was busy. And the year was “yearing” for most of the people I could talk to, so I just let everyone be. But there was this person who didn’t just know something was wrong. She felt it. She would mostly tell me, “You don’t have to share anything you don’t want to share; just know I’m always here for you.”

Those weren’t just mere words for me. It was the gateway to leaving my hiding place. And so I got the courage to just leave. I started confiding in her and allowed her into everything I was going through. I knew I made the right decision when the first thing she told me was, “Let’s pray about this; everything will be fine.”

Gladys has been my friend for as long as I remember. It’s been 19 years of friendship, and I am proud to say we’ve actually never had a bad moment. People say a friendship is not real when you don’t fight or ignore each other. Actually, I don’t know how true that is, but my friendship with Gladys has never gone through a bad time where we fought so much and ignored each other.

Even when we disagree with each other, we still try to understand each other’s perspective. I always say she’s probably the sister I was supposed to have but never had. She’s sweet, funny, intelligent, and hardworking. Most important, she is confident and knows how precious she is. And I’m happy about that because I’ve realized that over the years, these qualities have strengthened my own qualities.

I used to think I was super supportive until I began realizing I actually learned it from her. She’s probably the most supportive person I’ve ever met, and I always say her support is scary. Because she could easily motivate a drug dealer to become a kingpin, hahaha.

But seriously, when I count my blessings, she’s always in the top five, not because of the impact she has on my life but because of the impact she’s made me have on myself. It’s one thing for someone to help you become a better person and it’s another thing for someone’s presence in your life make you want to be a better person. In my case, it’s safe to say I have both and will forever be grateful.