on friendship: the greatest love of my life
discovering the true essence of connection
yes, babies! iβm on break for a little bit.
but i didnβt want to leave you hanging, so i am sharing with you some content i scheduled to come out during the time iβm out recharging.
enjoy - please share and comment, let me know about your greatest friendship(s) in the comments. or any insights about friendship you want to share.
when i packed up my life and moved to san diego in 2021, i was nursing a heart freshly wounded from the end of a seven-year relationship. i will never forget that weekend in july of 2021 when i left washington, dc. my dad and i drove a u-haul from dc to grand rapids, mi overnight with all of my things. those years with my then-boyfriend had been such a cornerstone of my existence - a period so entwined with another's soul that the unraveling felt like a quiet, terrible catastrophe.
i arrived in san diego not just to embrace a new city but to escape the echoes of a love that once filled my days with joy and purpose.
but here's what i didn't expect to find in the sunny stretches of this ocean-kissed city: a deeper, more profound love in the form of friendships. yes, i've come to realize, perhaps a bit surprisingly, that friendship is the great love of my life.
moving to a new city, especially after such a seismic personal shift, could have been a lonely endeavor. but san diego greeted me with open arms and people with even opener hearts. each new connection i forged became a thread in a new safety net, woven with laughter, shared secrets, and mutual support.
i found friends who would drag me out to the bustling farmers' markets on sundays, friends who could spend hours discussing everything from the existential to the absurd.
there were no pretenses here, no need to dress up emotions or temper passions. these were relationships grounded in authenticity, where comfort and understanding flowed as freely as our conversations.
and it wasnβt just about having fun or filling up social calendars. these friendships nurtured me. on days when the weight of my past felt too heavy, when the shadow of my previous relationship loomed large, it was a friend's unexpected text, a shared meal, or a long walk under the sprawling california sky that brought me back to myself. they reminded me of my worth beyond my romantic entanglements, and of the joys that could be found in platonic love.
this realization has been both a salve and a revelation: friendship is the great love story of my life.
it's not a consolation prize to romantic love but a profound connection that sustains, heals, and inspires.
my friends are my chosen family, the people who celebrate my triumphs and sit with me in my sorrows. they are the ones who remind me to laugh when life gets too serious and to cry when i'm trying too hard to be strong.
what i've learned from these bonds is immeasurable. friendship has taught me about the kind of love that isnβt tethered to conditions or expectations, the kind that grants you the freedom to grow and the grace to stumble. it has shown me that love, in its most unselfish form, can be found in the friends who accompany us through life's labyrinth.
as i sit here, typing this out at lestatβs in university heights (the one on park ave!), i am overwhelmingly grateful for the friends who have turned what could have been just another place to live into a home. theyβve taught me that the end of one love story can be the beginning of another, equally beautiful tale.
so hereβs to friendship, the unexpected love of my life. it's a love that doesnβt dim with distance or fade with time but deepens with every shared experience and every hurdle crossed together.
if youβve found a similar solace in friendship, or if youβre still on your journey to discover the different forms love can take, iβd love to hear your stories. letβs cherish these connections that help us weave our own stories of resilience and affection.
until next time, cherish the loves of your life, whoever they may be.
with love,
edgard
this is so well said and iβm so glad our paths crossed and am so honored to call you my friend β₯οΈβ¨