After weeks full of celebrations, seeing family and friends and running some errands during the Christmas time and New Years in Estonia, I am back in Brazil and wondering more than ever about the marvelous ways life rolls out in front of us.

This June it will be ten years since I graduated from college. On the night of graduation a group of four great friends took a bottle of wine, some paper, pens and an envelope to the most romantic spot in my hometown and wrote down their deepest wishes that they hoped would be fulfilled in ten years’ time.

This group was us, of course, me and my three amazing friends from high school. After each of us was done eternalizing their dreams on a pink notepaper, we slipped them in an envelope to be sealed until the four of us would come together again the exact same day, 10 years later to see if our wishes had come true.

That night I could not even have imagined what life would have in store for me and that those 10 (then seemingly oh-so-distant) years later, I would literally be living on the other side of the world in a completely different culture with the love of my life and our sweetest dog. I mean, I did hope that I would be realized and happy but I guess I did not dare to dream in terms that went even a pinch further from abstract.

Having become an adult (well, for most of the time) and living far, far away did eventually alter our romantic plans to open the letters exactly 10 years later, but we did come together once more in my hometown in December. Just the four of us and the sealed envelope. All of us nervous yet excited.

All I can say about the results is that there was laughter and joy; there were surprises, tears and some temporary pain caused by remembering old insecurities. Nevertheless, what stuck out the most was how in spite of not seeing each other daily anymore like ten years ago, with some of us living in faraway exotic countries or having had children had not changed us as friends. It was still the same. It was warm, trusting, comfortable and fun. Even though we were not up to date with the details of each other’s daily lives anymore, our essence and appreciation for each other had stayed the same. And it was amazing.

When meeting up with family members and more friends after having not seen them for a year and a half that very same feeling kept sweeping over me repeatedly. All of us had news, all of our lives had changed in some ways, yet it felt as if everything was the same as it had always been. This really must be what real friendship and love is all about.

At the same time I have grown to deeply appreciate my life in Brazil and the family and relationships I have formed and become a part of here. These all are relatively new if you compare them to family and friends that I grew up with. But I can assure you that they all are very carefully picked and are no less genuine than the connections forged some decades ago. After all, home is where the heart is.

Think about it. A person that has a warm home where they feel loved, trusted, fulfilled and cared for, is incredibly lucky.  A person that has more than one of those, however, making them realize just how precious and rich life is, is blessed beyond measure.

I might sound too romantic and sentimental, but, hey, you are always too something for someone else’s taste, right?! I am happy and so very grateful that those 10 years that my friends and I had been counting since the night of our graduation have brought me exactly where I am today.

Nevertheless, if I could make another wish for the next decade, it would definitely be teletransportation. Asap, please.