Thursday 7 June 2007

Chalk and cheese

We have been best friends since we were 6, yet we’re as different as chalk and cheese. She’s petite and compact, while I am taller and rugged. She sports a short, neat bob while I like my hair long and flowing. She is mostly serious while I am always grinning (and goofy). An engineer by training, she’s systematic and methodological. I tend to be more expressive and spontaneous. She likes simple stylish outfits while I am a boho chick with loads of fanciful accessories. She wears court shoes while I am always running around in sandals.

She’s patient and optimistic while I can be angsty and hot-headed. She drives a solid Volvo sedan while I zip around in my black jeep. Even our tastes in food (and men) are different. At the buffet table, she heads straight for the spicy Asian delicacies while I’d go for succulent fruits, nuts, cheese and sweet desserts.

Our mothering styles are different too. When her two boys were growing up, she was always hovering behind them, guiding their every step. I let mine run around chasing butterflies while I kept a watchful eye from the park bench. When on vacation, she keeps them fully occupied with loads of activities while I give mine a free rein to do what they like. We groom the kids differently. She focuses more on academia while I encourage mine to be creative. My kids grew up surrounded by drawing paper, nature books, paint, crayons and toy dinosaurs. Hers had a huge lego collection and a room full of robots, toys trucks and army paraphernalia.

We seem to have so little in common, yet it’s amazing how happy we are when we’re together! She cracks me up with the little goofy things she does and we giggle like school girls when we meet. She’s protective and treats me like a little sister and she's someone I can always turn to. Perhaps we’re both easy going or maybe because we know each other so well, we click like the Ying Yang twins.

This friendship took us years to cultivate and we see many more to come, right into our golden years…

4 comments:

The Real Mother Hen said...

Hey it's funny you mention that... to me, both of you are quite similar though, I mean, not personality wise, but like view on life, philosophy etc :)

Anonymous said...

...and those are the similarities that really sustain things over time. I will say, though, that I understand having close friends over time that are very different from me as well.

Unknown said...

Hi... thanks for all your prayers for my dad!

Blur Ting said...

The reason I blogged about this is because I always thought we were similar. But when I sat down and thought about it the other day, I realised we're so different in many ways. We have similar views on many things, like what Holly said, because these are things that keep us close all these years.

You and I are great pals too, but we're so different right?

Hey Random, you're back!! Great to see your familiar face again!

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