Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Lucky Ducks

IMG_2349

They have been friends since they were four years old. Fabrice lives in the same village, about five minutes, on foot, from our house. Sometimes I forget that Fabrice is not related to us… I consider him my second son.
Isn't it like that when you have known someone for so long, you feel they are more than just a friend? When you see a friend that you have known for years, you see your history within their eyes, you feel their hand upon your journey… they hold a part of you, just as you hold a part of them.

                                    

IMG_2353

I asked them if I could take a photo… As I held up the camera I saw two young men looking back at me. So beautiful.
"Hey, who said you two could grow up? Stop it! The older you became the older I get… and something tells me you have years of looking better and better!"
…. ah the face of youth … haunting somehow.

IMG_2354

Who is your best friend? Who is the friend you work well with, or the one that makes you laugh the most , or the one who listens to you, or shares your joy the best? Who holds your secrets or shares your past? Do you have an all around best friend close by?

Fabrice and Sacha share a childhood friendship that is moving into a new stage. A parent's hope is that their children will find good friends, that the birds they flock with will lead them in a good direction, allowing them to fly high with an amazing view.

Ah the lucky ducks, ah lucky me…

                                            

Comments

43 responses to “Lucky Ducks”

  1. hhb

    My dearest, soul mate friend lives 10,000 miles away in the UK. We last met up 2 years ago and carried on a conversation like we had not been apart for five years. She is coming here for 5 days in August 09, just five days. I’ve told her she can sleep when she goes home!

    Reply
  2. Merisi

    Lucky ducks, indeed (lucky drakes, my biologist friend would correct me *smile*)!
    Our house has been filled with friends of our four kids, ever since we joined the first playgroup for the oldest one. Incredibly, two of my son’s best friends are studying in the same city he moved to, a continent away from where they grew up together, my oldest has one of her oldest friends from the USA here too. I am a lucky duck too, one of my best and oldest friends from Washington works only a few metro stops away, an incredible coincidence!

    Reply
  3. cathy

    lucky ducks indeed. The boys are beautiful. The greatest gift is to a friend that you can share your world with. A reflection and an anchor,an peaceful place to call home.

    Reply
  4. Suzanne

    Dear Corey,
    I’m a lucky duck too! I’m 29 and I’ve know my best friend for 19 years now! It’s a childhood friendship too and, just like you say, we hold each other’s history with such care and tenderness.
    He lives on the other side of the country (fortunately, Portugal’s size is small!!!), but we never feel we’re far from each other.
    Lucky ducks indeed we are!!! 🙂
    Love*

    Reply
  5. My Melange

    Two very handsome young men. You will have lots of girls at your doorstep Corey 🙂

    Reply
  6. Joy

    My best friend Janet and I will mark our 35th year of friendship next year when we both turn 40. 🙂 We have never had a fight in all of these years and crack each other up. We talk every day on the phone (sometimes many times a day) And December 1st we are launching a brand new website together, moggit.com. We can’t wait! She is the sister the Lord forgot to give me… 🙂
    Joy
    xo

    Reply
  7. Chris

    Ah Corey~~ My dear stepdaughter Jenn lives in Spain. She just surprised us by showing up at my daughter’s house in Elk Grove, CA. I’m blown away by what a beautiful young woman she is….and so too my daughter and their young men. I’m happy for the wisdom of growing older, but the physical changes are not enchanting me at all!! LOL!
    Love these pictures. They are growing into fine men…

    Reply
  8. misschris

    They’re adorable. What nice photos for them to look back at one day. This reminds me of some old b&w photos I just sent a friend of us in our late teens, hanging out and trying to be cool and artsy–good memories. Those pictures brought us right back to that time.

    Reply
  9. ~Kim

    What a blessing are good friendships for our children! I was just praying this for my kids this morning. Great photos, too! 🙂

    Reply
  10. Linda

    I’m visiting my best friend at the moment. We met when we both moved to a rather bleak housing development in Texas where she lived across the street from me. We have been through so much together. My children don’t keep up much with their childhood friends as we moved so much while they were growing up.

    Reply
  11. beachy

    Such wonderful boys, Corey! Handsome young men!
    Well, my sweetest childhood friend and I were friends since 1st grade, and she was the Matron of Honor at my wedding. Sadly she decided that when I married, I moved too far away from her to stay in touch (even though we still live in the same state)! HMF! So all those years of friendship rather went POOF! Ah well… I now enjoy the little bits of friendship I glean from the mothers of my children’s friends. =) (PS – this wasn’t meant to sound like a sob story, because it really doesn’t bother me.) =)

    Reply
  12. Elaine

    My friend of forty years called just a few days ago, haven’t seen her for years. Last night I talked forever to another friend, he too has been a part of my life for over forty years. He changed my daughter’s diapers, made his mother Aimee’s guardian angel and we still laugh and talk as if it were only yesterday. I will see both of them, hopefully the end of this year.
    Also, meeting you felt as if I met a very old friend.

    Reply
  13. Elaine

    Oh, and by the way, young men have no excuse to grow up so quickly, so handsome. My grandmother said to put a rock on the head to slow down the growing up. 😉

    Reply
  14. Gracie

    I’ve been lucky all my life on the friendship side. I have a large circle of friends, each one of them is sharing a portion of my life, each one of them shares some interest with me, some of them are lifelong friends, some are pretty new, but I couldn’t choose one to be better than others. Friendship is a blessing, being an only child, they are my family.

    Reply
  15. Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife

    What terrific portraits of some very handsome young men. Our friendships are so important in our lives. My guess is that their friendship will continue in one way or another throughout their lives.
    I have a terrific friend named DIane. She is a friend in the deepest sense of the word, not just a shopping or lunch partner. Two years ago she suffered the worst tragedy a parent can imagine. There was tragedy within tragedy. I’ve walked the terrible path of grief with her, retreating when she needed me to give her space and coming closer when she needed that.
    I know someone who truly has no friends. Not one true friend in her lifetime, of her own choosing. It’s beyond sad to watch someone who has rejected the support and caring that friendship offers. It’s a safe haven.
    – Suzanne, the Farmer’s Wife

    Reply
  16. Ardi

    Mornin’ Corey,
    What gorgeous young men – they could be models for the finest clothing! As to friends I have two best friends. They were my across the street neighbors. We all moved here at about the same time, young, nearly broke (they and their husbands had just bought their homes, Himself and I had just built ours), with young kids to raise. We raised our kids together. We raised our husband together. We worked tirelessly at our kids’ schools – volunteering and then in sports – volunteering. We had coffee together each morning. We griped about our husbands knowing that the others knew our husbands were good guys, but it was a way to vent. One of my friends lives within a few minutes of our house now. We still talk every week and the other lives an hour away now. We visit or they come here every so often. But with both – the minute we’re together it’s as if time has ceased to fly by – and it’s as if we were just picking up where we left off in one of those morning coffee get togethers. We have been through good times, got our kids through school, watched most of them marry, and we’re all grandmothers now. These two friends are the salt of the earth.

    Reply
  17. Catalina

    beautiful!
    I have best friends who still are even if we are spread around the world! from childhood and teen ages. I have true friends that are “new” as well but that were best friends at “first sight”
    my best friend ever is since we were 8 years old…
    those friends are as sisters and brothers. We call ourselves as this

    Reply
  18. Dee/reddirtramblings

    There is nothing like the beauty of youth. I look at my teen daughter all the time and think “Wow.” I look at my thirteen year old son, when he isn’t acting gross, and I realize how beautiful he is. My little on is still little, but her legs are starting the lengthen; her face beginning to thin. Darn.
    My best friend is Aimee. We met through a mom’s group 12 years ago. We will always be friends. I admire her, and I love her. Our children grew up together. The younger group are the best of friends too.
    Thank you, Corey, for showing us your beautiful son and his best friend. Who is your best friend?~~Dee

    Reply
  19. Violet Skiles

    Good friends, what a blessing! And ones we have known since childhood, they see who we were and what we have become, and we see them in a way others never could. I have a good friend from long ago, we met in 8th grade … I won’t mention how long ago that was!

    Reply
  20. shannon in oregon

    jill. she and i finish sentences for one another. we’ve known each other since college, but i swear it’s been more like forever. thankfully our husbands get along just as well! phew…

    Reply
  21. naomi

    My sister is one for me. She is 6 hours away. And I have several others, the two best of which I left in Florida when we moved to TN 8 years ago. I miss them every day. And I’m thankful for email.

    Reply
  22. caren

    Models ~ that is what they should be – so handsome! Carol is my best friend – even though we don’t see or talk to each other much- we always can pick right back up where we left off. As the say, BFF!

    Reply
  23. Kim A.

    I do love your photos. Those two boys are so gorgeous and you really capture their beauty — so striking.

    Reply
  24. Rosemary

    Hello Corey,
    What nice young men.
    My friend is someone I see everyday. We walk every morning together. We have know each other since our children were 5 years old. Now they are 27. We have walked together forever, as well as getting together for other fun stuff.
    I would also say that my husband is my best friend, and my daughter and I have fun times hanging out together too!!
    Rosemary

    Reply
  25. Marilyn

    Yes, you are a lucky to have two beautiful young men in your life. How special for them too to have you in their life. Loved the photos.

    Reply
  26. Kris

    Very handsome young men indeed, they could be models. My best friend is my husband. There has never been any secrets between us in our 38 years of marriage. He is a wonderful listener, an impartial judge and never tells you what you should do.
    Kris

    Reply
  27. Joanie

    What a beautiful photograph of such handsome young men! You must be so proud of them! My son has a best friend, Charlie, who is like a second son to me too.
    As for me? Well, my husband is it. We share everything.
    Sadly, my best girlfriend and I of 25years no longer speak to each other after a falling out about 5 years ago. Even though I’ve tried to contact her to apologize and make things right, she will not respond to me. I hurt her too deeply I guess, and she must feel that it’s not worth it to mend our relationship. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t think of her and regret losing such a large part of my life.
    Friendships are fragile so handle them carefully. I know, I broke mine.

    Reply
  28. ginnycartersmallenburg

    John was my best friend and sometimes boyfriend all through elementary, jr high and high school, but then we didn’t see each other for 40 years, living in different states and sometimes different countries. By chance we found each other in 2003. Indeed it was as if we had never been apart, immediately finishing each other’s sentences and laughing at the same things. Corny, but we do complete each other. We have been married 3 1/2 years now and I have never been happier than I am now, married to my oldest and best friend.

    Reply
  29. Paula

    Those boys are something else !!!! More like young men, really.
    Love your photos.

    Reply
  30. Miss Sandy

    Do I get to pick more than one? I have known my husband since I was 14 years old and he truly is my best friend. He knows me at my best and at my worst and loves me anyway! I have shared a wonderful friendship with two amazing women for 19 years. We have laughed, cried, prayed, played, and celebrated so many life moments together. I consider these two my best friends also.

    Reply
  31. Kimberly

    Absolutely love the photos of “your” boys! You know I have 3 of my own and each one of my boys has a best friend that have become like sons to me. Love it!
    I have been blessed to have a best friend name Sandi since the womb! Our mother’s were friends and they became pregnant at the same time. That was 40 years ago! We have lived far from each other for years now but I know that she is just a call away. Great post Corey, my two favorite things, my boys and my best friend! Blessings, Kimberly

    Reply
  32. Wonders Never Cease

    What lovely photos of two handsome young men.
    One of the best things about being a mom to teenagers is the chance to get to know their friends! Knowing and loving these kids gives me such hope for our future!
    Becky

    Reply
  33. Haley

    You inspired me into the blogging community and I just wanted to give you the link to my newly introduced blog http://haleloustew.blogspot.com/
    Thanks for your inspiration. If I was eight years younger I would hop on a plane and ask Sacha out on a date (ha that is creepy sorry). He is just too cute 🙂
    -haley

    Reply
  34. Shelley

    corey , sasha and fabrice r very handsome young men. who is my bestfriend,,,it is my sweetest,handsome hubby eric and of course..you corey ……..

    Reply
  35. Evelyn

    Such handsome young men. They sure grow up fast … my “boy” will be 26 at the end of January.

    Reply
  36. Aina

    Dear Corey,
    How much can a mother, best friend, girl friend or a blogfriend really take?
    …just read about your mother..My friend out there, please let me hug you for a minut.
    Life can be, as you said, so fragile..one second and then..That scares me.
    Sadness and hapiness, hand in hand.
    Thought I should send you some thoughts about my life, doesn`t matter now.
    Want to ask, have you taken a lovely walk lately? I hope you are able to enjoy this time of the year. Me are really busy making other people happy 🙂
    Wonderful to bake a few cookies and have a look out the window and see the snow falling. I hope you have a very good friend that takes you away for a fem minuts to enjoy!
    Much love,
    Aina

    Reply
  37. pam

    Great photo’s, Corey, of such nice looking young men. Your post today immediately reminded me of the relationship between my daughter and her best friend. They lived two houses from each other and met at the bus stop on the second day of kindergarten. They were always together from that day until they graduated high school. Then my daughter’s best friend moved across the country to go to college. My daughter felt the pain of missing a sister and me, a much loved daughter (both my daughter and her best friend are only children),as she is a part of our family in our hearts. A year ago Morgan fell in love and married a boy from Alabama and moved there leaving all of her friends and family in WA., and my daughter in Oregon where she is finishing her last year of college. Your own love story with French husband gives me hope that distance is not enough to keep her from remembering all of us who loved her first. I’m so grateful that my daughter has been blessed with the gift of a best friend for life. It’s priceless!

    Reply
  38. cheryl

    Corey,
    What lovely boys. Imagine the conversations they’ve shared.
    I will leave South Carolina to fly home to NY on Friday to be with my lifelong friend, Joseph. He and I went to preschool at 3 years old and bonded at that time. That friendship has lasted for 40 years. My husband stays with Joseph when he is in NY and they too have found a friendship that makes it easy for me to say that I must take time to connect with one who is so dear to me. No crazy jealousy.
    I directed Joseph to your blog during your journey through the loss of your beloved father, as we had lost his father in September of 2007. I felt like I introduced him to a friend we both kind of already knew.
    I’ll be in NY for four days visiting and some other high school pals will join us for a big sleep-over. I am blessed with friends and I try to encourage my children to cultivate friendships so that they may have some people who will know their story, as I have people who know mine. Such a gift.

    Reply
  39. Cousin Chris

    My best friend?…….Uncle George Amaro!

    Reply
  40. Elaine L.

    Such nice looking young men. Ah, what wonderful experiences await them?!
    ~elaine~

    Reply
  41. Hasmin

    Such handsome young men! It’s wonderful to have that special friend whom you can chat up a storm and talk about ANYTHING, and laugh till you both pee! 🙂

    Reply
  42. angela

    Ooh Corey, tell Sacha and Fabrice they look like the next Rock Duo(I don’t want to say Wham! cause bleh!) but they are a couple of hunky guys. These pics would make great album covers, tell them that American girls would go crazy, especially if they ride in on their motorcycles!!!!

    Reply
  43. Irene@The Happy Turtle

    So young and handsome, I am tempted to say.
    My best friend is French. She lives in the South of France. She knows the mostest about my life. I can confess to her. She is an artist. We have been pen pals for some twenty five years. We have never met in person.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions