A penpal whom I had stopped communicating early this year, he came back to me a couple months later, as if nothing had happened between us, and again I stepped out of the friendship.

This was someone I knew since 2013, and he took me around Paris for almost a week.

I didn't expect myself to reconnect with him again, but in the past couple of days, while I was reviewing my old letters and journaling, I had the chance to organize what and who I wanted in my life, to process things in the past, and I saw the greeting cards and postcards he had sent me in the past, reminding me of our friendship. One of the more touching sentences he wrote was, "This is just the start of a lifelong friendship." I don't remember how I felt when I first read it many years ago. I think I didn't believe it. I doubted that people would be committed to making lifelong friends. But knowing him over the years, I know he's a loyal friend. And that was a very touching quality about him.

This week when I saw that sentence again, I was very touched. The person that I've grown to be now is more capable of appreciating this quality.

This Christmas season I had reconnected with Roberta, a flower essences therapist, someone who understood healing. I was very touched by what she said. And I hope, I will continue to find and grow more loving and nourishing human relationships going forward.