Writing

Page 21
#2
Letter
Topic: Special friendship - Assess the difficulties of maintaining a friendship over time and in
changing circumstances

To whom it may concern from International Magazine,

I am writing in response to your invitation to provide our view on the friendship subject.
I am 35 years old and an introverted person, so it is really hard for me to make friends - and
the hardest part - keeping them. Even though introverts tend to enjoy being alone, the
sentiment of being lonely is completely different; that is why having friends is important.
Having someone to share your thoughts, experiences; someone to learn from is part of
building up the future (adult) you.
As human beings we are always surrounded by people we consider our acquaintances, but
not all of them will become our closest and dear old friends. We learn - within time - that not
all the people we thought of as friends are going to stay in our lives, but we have to be
thankful for them, because they helped us - some way or another - to be who we are today.
Just because a friendship didn't last long, doesn´t make it less meaningful than a long-
lasting one.
For example, when I was young I had a friend with whom I shared a lot of moments: we
worked as entertainers at kids parties, went out and shared a room when university started.
Although we are not friends anymore, I am thankful because I was able to experience many
“first times”: first job, first time paying my own “going out” bills, and learned how to live
together with strangers! - not a minor matter. Why are we not friends you might ask?
Because the “big city” took us separate ways, and had different interests that were not
compatible.
Throughout my life I´ve had many short-term friendships, some hurt more than others when
they ended, but I consider it another learning lesson. Some of those short-term friendships
led me to my long-lasting ones, so how can I not be thankful?!

Regards,
Annelise