The friendships that survived and were maintained despite the time that has passed and despite the distances which life has placed between us, are worth remembering and worth the effort. That's how we, those who attended the last two classes of high school, got together recently. If we keep in mind that we were in class together since 1984, it can be said that our friendship has lasted 40 years. An impressive figure, all of us who are in our late fifties will agree, for a life that is not quite as long as it seemed to us back then, when we were young.
We started our day of socializing together, on that wonderful sunny September day, at the cemetery. We decided to visit the grave of one of our classmates, Robert, who died 37 years ago, during his mandatory military service in the former Yugoslavia. We gathered in front of Robert's grave and on that occasion we remembered our association with him. He was a wonderful young man and if he had survived his military service as he should have, he would be a respected doctor today, I'm sure of that.
Later, we drove our cars to a forest next to the village where a well-designed hotel was waiting for us. Our Sandra, the organizer of the gathering, is a Doctor of Forestry and thanks to her job and knowing the surrounding area we had a wonderful choice of the facility where we had lunch and dinner. Everything was excellently organized, the food delicious and well prepared. At the end of lunch, the lights went out and the song "Happy Birthday" was played. Some of my friends carried a cake with burning candles. To my surprise, the cake was coming towards me, and I remember thinking, maybe it's for me. And it was, even though my birthday was two days later.
We continued our socializing after the amazing cake, with a walk through the forest. We really needed such an activity after a hearty lunch. We all enjoyed ourselves and ended the dinner later with a karaoke song. Some of my friends really surprised me, especially Dražen and Sanja, who sang karaoke with the voices of professionals. I was pleasantly surprised because I hadn't had the chance to enjoy their song until then.
And so, filled with that wonderful socializing late into the night, we headed towards Zagreb. We were driven by Suzana, our doctor-gynaecologist, who answered our questions about health problems and many other things while driving.
And so, our 40-year-long friendship continues, partly through daily messages on WhatsApp and partly through plans for future gatherings.
Thanks to all my classmates and others who made my 57th birthday special.
Kristina
Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024
Prijateljstva duga 40 godina
Prijateljstva koja su opstala i održala se usprkos vremenu koje je proteklo i uzprkos daljinama u koja nas je život smjestio, vrijede spomena i vrijede napora. Tako smo se nedavno okupili mi koji smo zajedno pohađali zadnja dva razreda srednje škole. Ako imamo u vidu da smo bili zajedno u razredu od daleke 1984. godine može se reći da naše prijateljstvo traje 40 godina. Impresivna brojka, složit ćemo se svi mi koji smo u kasnim pedesetima, za život koji nije baš toliko dugačak koliko nam se činilo tada, dok smo bili mladi.
Naš dan zajedničkog druženja, tog divnog sunčanog, rujanskog dana, započeli smo na groblju. Odlučili smo posjetiti grob jednog od naših prijetelja iz razreda, Roberta, koji je preminuo još prije 37 godina, tokom služenja obaveznog vojnog roka u bivšoj Jugoslaviji. Okupili smo se ispred Robertovog groba i tom smo se prilikom prisjećali našeg druženja sa njim. Bio je divan mladić i da je preživio vojni rok kao što je trebao, danas bi bio ugledni liječnik, sigurna sam u to.
Kasnije smo se autima uputili u jednu šumu pored sela u kojim je dobro osmišljeni hotelski object čekao na nas. Naše Sandra i Brenarda su bile organizatorice okupljanja, i zahvaljujući njihovom poslu u šumarstvu i poznavanju kraja imali smo to divno mjesto i objekt u kojem smo se družili, te ručali i večerali. Sve je bilo izvaredno organizirano, hrana domaća, odlična. Krajem ručka ugasila su se svjetla i začula se pjesma “Sretan rođendan”. Neke od mojih prijateljica nosile su tortu sa gorućim svjećicama. Torta je na moje iznenađenje išla prema meni i sjećam se da sam pomislila, pa jel’ to možda za mene. I bila je, premda je moj rođendan bio dva dana kasnije.
Druženje smo nastavili nakon predobre i ukusne torte, šetnjom kroz šumu. Takova aktivnost nam je baš trebala nakon obilnog ručka. Svi smo uživali, a kasniju večeru završili smo karaoke pjesmom. Neki od mojih prijatelja su me jako iznenadili, pogotovo Dražen i Sanja, koji su karaoke zapjevali glasovima profesionalaca. Ostala sam ugodno zatečena jer u njihovoj pjesmi nisam do tada imala priliku uživati.
I tako, ispunjeni tim divnim druženjem kasno u noć zaputili smo se prema Zagrebu. Vozila nas je Suzana, nasa doktorica-ginekologica koja je u vožnji odgovarala na naša pitanja o zdrastvenim boljkama i mnogo čemu drugom.
I tako, naše 40 godina dugo prijateljstvo se nastavlja, nešto kroz svakodnevna javljanja WhatsAppom a nešto kroz planove za buduća okupljanja.
Hvala svim mojim prijateljima iz razreda i drugima, koji su uvećli moj 57. rođendan.
Kristina
Srijeda, 2. listopada 2024.
Comments