it's friends' day in argentina.
for all the cruelty and cynicism in my country, we worship friendship like
nothing else. in our culture, friends come first, sometimes even before
family, religion and ideas.
we meet at sunset and we talk till sunrise, fueled only by coffee and an
irrepressible urge to philosophize.
we die for our friends. we stand against dictators and we defy traditions
and authority for our friends. our sense of friendship is a mixture of all
the different concepts of family, love and loyalty of the many cultures that
came to our country and stayed here.
that's probably why we can be friends with everybody: we carry within us the
ability to empathize with an american expatriate, a russian writer, a
japanese child, a jewish old lady, an english nanny.
when we are children, our parents become concerned when we don't have
friends. they want us to succeed, to do well at school, to choose a career.
but if we don't have friends, they feel that something essential is missing
in our souls. they are alarmed, they consult therapists and priests, they
wonder.
my friends are the only treasure i will regret leaving when i'm gone.
even if it's only an argentine eccentricity, let me wish you a happy
friends' day.
you are my friends.
wallyK
