What's In A Name?

The Adorable Baby LY - Ain't she a sweetie pie?

Flo and I used to be the best of chums. We absolutely must sit next each other in class. Practically walked around everywhere together like a pair of conjoined twins. So much so that when a friend sees either of us, they will ask where's the other. They still do that today whenever they bump into either Flo or me.

After secondary school, we still remained very close and in some ways, we still are. The past year had been a very dramatic one for the both of us. We both got married and pregnant. She in real life. Me on the stage.

And so, with our busy busy schedules and such, I'm finally visiting Flo's baby girl for the first time today. Am rather looking forward to it, actually. Until I realised that the baby's name sounds very much like a girl we met in secondary school.

This girl, LY, became our classmate when we were in Form 3. Flo and I have been best friends since Form 1. We've got such a good thing going on that I was stunned when Flo wanted LY to sit with us in the bus on some school trip. School bus seats normally come in pairs, so how are we three be able to squeeze in them? The trip was eventually cancelled. But I was sore from the pain of that first 'betrayal'. I thought the two of us were fine together. Why bring a third party into the picture? And thus began a series of 'betrayals' from both parties. Flo was hurt when I started spending time with other friends. And I felt a hollow kind of triumph seeing how hurt she was.

"Yeah, that's how I felt when you wanted to bring LY into the picture!" I thought to myself with a twisted kinda satisfaction.

She did the same with other friends and I got hurt. And thus the vicious cycle began. And the once happy Siamese twins started to drift apart.

The gap between us widened when we were sent to separate classes when we reached Form 4. Whenever me and my gang passed Navin and her along the corridors, we would give a passing wave at each other and go on yakking animatedly with our new chums. But although we each pretended to be deliriously happy with the new friends that we have gotten close with, we actually missed each other very, very much.

Who else knew the very first crush we ever had on a guy? Who else laughed and shake their heads in the exact same manner? And doggone it, who else was the keeper of our innermost secrets?

We would rather eat ten thousand cow tongues than admit that though.

It was only after we started working that we were able to talk and laugh over the trials that seemed so great to bear when we were younger. Maturity hits us at a late stage, I guess. We saw how silly we were to behave the way that we did and we agreed that the best of friends are those that can share their friends with others because they are secure in the strength of their friendship already. Plus, the diversity of experiences that they share with others will enrich the friendship that they share and strengthen it further.

But then again, those diverse experiences can also change the two friends to the extent that they have less and less things in common.

I feel that although we shared such a rich history together and couldn't think of anyone better than her to grow up with, both of us are going through very different paths in life now. We still love spending time with each other but it's getting harder to find a mutually free time to spend with her, now that she has a family of her own.

But for what it's worth, I'm grateful that she still makes the effort to make time for us. Still eager to share her updates and hear mine. Still offering her ear and her shoulder to cry on, should I need it. In many ways, she's still the same ol' Flo.

Maybe we are not as close as we used to be. But at least we try to keep the flames of friendship alive. And for that, I'm grateful.

Even if her first baby bears LY's name


No, we don't like cow tongues. We did eventually admit how we felt during those bleak days of being estranged.