In addition to being a time to appreciate the glorious colours and lovely cool weather that Autumn brings, it’s a season during which I have the opportunity to commemorate some important relationships in my life.
Today, I’d like to raise a toast to my friend Meghan, as we celebrate our friendiversary. We met 11 years ago at a place that we both worked at the time.
From the moment we were introduced, we clicked. During that first conversation, we began talking about art and music and we haven’t stopped that discussion since.
They say (in this article) that, “on average, it takes about 50 hours of time with someone before you consider them a casual friend, 90 hours before you become real friends, and about 200 hours to become close friends.” Our transition from “work friend” to “life friend” happened quickly as we didn’t work together very long and we were in different departments, so a large percentage of our first 200 hours together were spent outside the office. They occurred in galleries, and in restaurants and bars discussing what we’d seen afterwards. Now, after 11 years and uncountable “art-dates”, Meghan is, without question, the person I’ve spent the most time looking at art with, in my life.
Of course, things changed when covid hit, and these past 9 months have been different for us. Now, we know that our friendship, while previously focused on a particular shared interest, was not solely based on that. An extended period of not being able to do what we love together has not caused our relationship to fade away due to circumstance. We’ve continued to see one another a couple of times a month, either visiting at a distance in our yard or at a nearby park. It certainly has helped that we live within walking distance of one another.
Meghan has played a big role in making this difficult time much more bearable, for sure. In appreciation and with love, I raise a glass to this witty, warm and wonderful woman.
↑ Taken by M with her phone. ↑
↑ Meghan brought Portuguese “pastéis de nata” tarts from Nova Era Bakery on Dundas Street West. These are so good! I’ve read that they’ve been making these in Portugal for over 300 years. The recipe was developed by monks to use up extra egg yolks resulting from all the egg whites they needed to starch the friar’s and nun’s religious clothing. ↑
↑ We hung out until it got dark, which happened to be only 5pm! ↑
Thanks for reading. I hope you’re doing well and finding small ways to safely celebrate the important things in life, during these trying times. xo loulou
