Glitter Diaries: Long-Awaited Reunion
Friends; I am a firm and true believer in quality over the quantity of friends, and I could not be more blessed to have two of the bestest friends. My best friends are two incredible individuals that I've been lucky to have in my life for more than 20 years. T and T are like my sisters, and although we have all been living in different cities for three years now, whenever we see each other, it's like no time has passed. One T still lives in Ottawa, and the other T moved to Calgary, Alberta, 3 years ago, around the time I moved to Toronto. We have a group chat on WhatsApp which is named T.I.T., the initials of our first names, a nickname given to us by T from Calgary's boyfriend.
T in Ottawa is the older T, and I met her when I was just 2 years old in 1990, in Chinese school. My parents attempted to have me learn Cantonese in Saturday-morning school then, and that's when my mom and T's mom met, and instantly became friends. T and I were always invited to each other's birthdays thanks to our moms being friends, but we didn't actually become friends ourselves until the second grade when T had to repeat Grade 2 and we were in the same class for the first time.
I ended up meeting the younger T (who now lives in Calgary) in Grade 1 when my first grade teacher gave me a list of phone numbers of all the first graders in the school (I had requested it in order to invite kids to my 7th birthday party in 1995). I had never played or talked to her before, until I picked her number from the list, called her home (with my mom on the line, too, of course) and invited her over for my birthday. It wasn't until the third grade that we finally became good friends, and the three of us have been inseparable ever since.
My best friends and I have been through everything together, from all the birthdays, the big milestones (getting our periods, first boyfriends, first kisses, first heartbreaks, engagements, buying our first homes) and unfortunately, we've also been through some very tough times together. T who still lives in Ottawa lost her mom, Mama O's best friend, and a second mom to me, in 2001 to leukemia, and just 4 years ago, she lost her father to illness. They were there for me when I was battling severe depression and the worst heartbreak of my life when my relationship with my ex-fiancé ended in Hong Kong in 2013, and I know that no matter what, we will be lifelong friends, through thick and thin.
This past weekend, I took a trip home to Ottawa because I was finally going to see both T's together, for the first time in three years. The last time I saw them was in 2013, just before I moved to Toronto and the younger T moved away to Calgary with her boyfriend. It was a much-needed reunion with lots of catching up (I was up until 5:00 a.m. both Friday and Saturday nights, just hanging out with them), laughter, reminiscing, and bonding. I was really sad to come back to Toronto on Sunday, not knowing when we would all be seeing each other again, but I am so grateful that no matter the distance, or time spent apart, we will always be friends.
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| The first picture we took together when they visited me in Hong Kong in March 2013, taken at Discovery Bay. |
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| One side of a wooden box that we all had to construct in our seventh grade Tech class, featuring a picture of the three of us at my 12th birthday, in front of my traditional DQ ice cream cake. |
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| The three of us, reunited this past weekend, at the older T's beautiful new home that she purchased in 2015 with her boyfriend. |
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| The older T making sure I get fed to prevent me from getting "hangry". |
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| T.I.T. and N, who we have known since the seventh grade. |
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| My friends dragged me out of bed at 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night to go to karaoke. It was actually tons of fun! |
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| S&G Fries, a little shack on Carling Ave. near my old high school, and a place that all Notre Dame Catholic alumni know and love. I was happy to see that it hasn't changed one bit since I was in high school... 10 years ago! It's the only place I like to get poutine from when I'm in Ottawa for a visit. |
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| Just look at that poutine! YUM! |
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| Another nostalgic food staple -- a meat pie from Aladdin's Bakery, also on Carling Ave. right next to my old high school. |
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| Traditional ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. No reunion is complete without one of these! |
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| Breakfast on Saturday morning was my responsibility after we had a sleepover at the older T's home on Friday night. We had maple and brown sugar bacon, scrambled eggs and French toast. |
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| What could be better than a greasy burger and loaded poutine from The King Eddy in the Byward Market at 3:00 a.m. after a fun night of karaoke-ing? |
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