MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY

Monday 29th Dec. was a day of celebration for an old friend of mine. Not only was it her 35th wedding anniversary, but also her eldest son's 34th birthday - on the very same day! Not to mention it was awal Muharam, and hence a public holiday which made it easier for us and the 100 or so people to turn up for the lunch that she and her husband held for family and friends. Plus, the restaurant serves a fairly decent Malay fare. The selection of desserts was limited for a sweet tooth person like me, but, and more importantly, the kueh pelita, sagu gula Melaka, and kueh koci pulut hitam were authentic.

For me, it was a celebration of sorts too. I had known ZB and her husband YC since varsity days, so we go back a long way. Ours is a friendship borne out of a common interest in all things literary. Our love of books found us in the same profession. Although we worked in different organisations, we stayed in touch throughout our working lives. Not often, but enough to keep track of each other.

I was at her wedding in Seremban, and dropped in on her and YC a couple of times in the early years of their marriage. Once I stayed back for dinner at their home in Kg. Pandan and had a taste of YC's gulai lemak kuning. ZB, of course, doesn't cook! But she has other endearing qualities to nourish our friendship. She is warm, understanding and one of the most level-headed persons I know. While she is critical, she is not judgemental.

I visited her in Seremban after she had just given birth to her second son, and by then her family knew that I am a friend. I was there for her eldest son's akad nikah and was present for his wedding too, some eight years ago. I wasn't always there for all the ups and downs in her life, but what we had was enough to sustain the friendship to this day.

Ours wasn't the kind of friendship nurtured over regular Sunday lunches, obligatory phone calls, shopping trips, birthday get-togethers, and the other stuff that 'friends' do together as a rule. In fact, there had been years ( and other important moments in our lives) when we had not kept in touch. But the lack of contact had not strained the friendship. We are, after all, different people, leading separate lives; but our paths have crossed, and the times that we have shared have bonded us. Our families might not be close, but my husband and children know that ZB is a friend, whose name gets mentioned often enough at home.

ZB looked happy on Monday, and I am happy for her. I am also happy to celebrate a friendship that has stood the test of time.

A Mirror of Friendship

On my last trip to KL in mid-Nov. I planned to shop for a mirror. I knew exactly what I wanted, but previous searches in Ipoh had come to nought. Nothing was even close! It was a Sunday, and my husband and sons had planned on golf (so what's new). So, I called my good friend, T. As luck would have it, she was free and was planning to go to Sg. Buluh to get her sister, N, an orchid plant as a belated birthday present. But she agreed to accompany me on my 'mirror hunt' anyway, so I tagged along with her to Sg. Buluh. T is good to have around when you are shopping for just about anything. She's KL born and bred; so with her, the GPS would be redundant! Besides, if you're looking for someone with taste and style, she is IT.

The mirror was for my kitchen-cum-family dining area; meaning, an informal spot. A nook where the wash basin stands needed a bit of brightening up and I was convinced a mirror would do the trick. But it cannot be anything ostentatious, or anything that was going to dent my already depleted finances. Moreover, my husband had said: "Any mirror would do." As if that wasn't a clear warning to spend as little as possible on the mirror.....

We visited Silk Road in Bangsar - which has ethnic Asian stuff including mirrors, but none took my fancy, nor were they suitable for my nook. Next stop was Bangsar Village, where we decided on lunch first before resuming our quest. As we were finishing lunch at one of the restaurants, who did we meet but N and her husband! N then invited us to her house for tea since I had not been to her new house in Bukit Jelutong, and for T to personally deliver the orchid.

Before making our way to B. Jelutong, T wanted to take me to a furniture shop where she thought I might find what I was looking for. So we headed for PJ - only to find the location of the shop occupied by a car showroom. They must have moved, or gone bust. The latter was most unlikely, according to T. For consolation, she said she would 'google' it so that we could visit it at some other time. So, the search was still on.........

T told N about my quest for the mirror, and the latter suggested that I take a look at a mirror that she no longer wanted since it was not in keeping with the decor of her new house. She had left it behind in her previous house together with other cast-offs. So off we went. When we got there, I spotted the mirror right away. It sat forlorn against the front wall of the house, its glass cracked in two. That it has seen better days was quite obvious. With a white-turned-cream frame of cast iron that had florets at regular intervals, the mirror begged to be rescued. Even then, with its distressed look, it fitted my requirements to a T - the size was right, the European design so fetchingly simple, and it was old. After all, it was N's flea-market find in London some 20 years ago! But given my penchant for antiques, old is not a problem.

I have given the frame a new coat of white paint - just enough to give it an even colour throughout. The broken mirror has been replaced with a new one. It was meant to be hung landscape-style, but that wouldn't do for the wall. So it is now with the welder who would have to remove the original hook from where it is, and weld it back into another position so I could hang it portrait-wise. In a matter of days, it will assume its rightful place on the wall.

My months-long search is over, and I am as pleased as Punch. When once the mirror had been her object of desire, tended with love and care, N had given it to me without a second thought. It mirrors the generosity of a friend, and a friendship that spans over 25 years - something to reflect upon, and that will always be reflected every time I look at it. Thank you, N.