Taimur and Daniyal were twin and had been my next door neighbours since I was five years old. Not only did we go to the same school, but our evenings and weekends were spent together too. It was like we were inseparable. I never felt that I needed any friends other than them. Unexpectedly, one evening their parents shared the news of them moving to another country.

I was shocked to realise that now we will never be together. I started recalling all the good times we had spent together, such as playing in the school breaks, the play dates, the pranks we played and all the fun things we did. Was it all going to end?

When we had been through so many highs and lows together, shared secrets and supported each other through thick and thin, their moving away felt like a part of me was being ripped away. The news of their departure left me feeling empty and lost.

I was thinking about the biggest change that I was going to face in a few days. It was a difficult pill to swallow, but I knew I must move on. Though it wasn’t easy at first, I was trying my level best to beat the mental anguish I was in.

After hearing the news, every day felt like a struggle, the school didn’t feel the same; the lunch breaks had no purpose. Soon there would be no one to compare the test marks with, homework remarks would not excite me like before, and so on. I couldn’t help but feel lost and alone already.

For a few days, I even felt less confident while rehearsing for my performance at the upcoming school’s annual event. But what I learned at this point in life was that your family can be the strongest support when you don’t even realise it. Lean on to your family and seek support if required. Reach out to people who care about you. Find meaningful connections and share how you feel.

Seeing my condition, my family advised me to make the most of the time that was left before they moved. In their last ten days here, when they had quit school, we made a list of things we always planned on doing and, one by one, we did those things. We watched a movie, went out for lunch, baked a cake, and went for a picnic to a water park.

We created more memories that would last a lifetime and we could look back on fondly. It was challenging to come to terms with the situation I was in, but my parents helped me realise that one way to help cope with emotions is to create memories.

Saying goodbye wasn’t easy, but the realisation that even when they moved so far, we could still be the closest best friends, set my heart at ease. Our parents kept us connected through online meetings once every week.

They also encouraged sharing photos of activities we did on the weekends.

All these efforts of my parents helped me regain my jovial self-back, and made me realise that the feeling of losing my friends was only in my mind, in reality, they will always be my best friends.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 25th, 2023