by Catherine Bryson
You know how, when you’re travelling alone it’s easier to make friends? Especially if you are travelling alone in a country where a different language is spoken.
Thus, I made friends with an American artist on the highway, hitchhiking to Paris. (Kids, don’t try this—the world has changed since the 1980s, I regret to say.)
As it happened, the artist and I decided to become roommates, in a tiny studio apartment in the 18th district of Paris, France in 1986 when I was 21 years old. Paris is a city divided into 20 districts, called ‘arrondissements.’
Anyway, one night, my friend was desperately craving Cap’n Crunch cereal. It happened to be a childhood favourite of hers. But where is the world would we find Cap’n Crunch in Paris, especially at 9 o’clock at night?
But find it we did.
We ended up in an ex-pat serving épicerie (small grocery store) on the Left Bank, where, glory be, they sold Cap’n Crunch. My friend didn’t even wait until we got back to the apartment. Right away while standing in the métro, she plunged her hand in for a handful of the golden nuggets, her nostalgic moment, at night, in Paris, with the Seine River and Eifel Tower all lit up.
Personally, my childhood favourite happens to be Lucky Charms.
But whatever, nostalgia is so Parisian! After all, isn’t Paris the birthplace of author Marcel Proust, who penned the classic ‘Remembrance of Things Past’? In that book, Proust waxes nostalgic about dunking his favourite cookie in tea for 30 pages of prose.
Yes, indeed, 30 pages.
Which is where we get the expression: ‘Proustian moment.’
But friendship, especially in the young, (and we were then both young), is an adventure. And so, I embraced our quest for Cap’n Crunch with all the vigour of searching for the Holy Grail itself! The Holy Grail of Cap’n Crunch. And why not, after all? For did not Aristotle say: ‘We should behave to our friends as we would wish our friends to behave to us?’
And yes, if I had been craving Lucky Charms, I imagine my friend would have been just as willing to scour Paris for that immortal box of Lucky Charms.
Does it matter what the quest is for? Not a bit. It was all part of the fun. The fun of being young in the City of Lights. And for that matter, isn’t age irrelevant when it comes to true friendship?
Maybe you, too, can enjoy a Proustian moment with a friend soon.
Resources:
PsychCentral Growing Healthy Friendships
https://psychcentral.com/lib/growing-healthy-friendships
The above post is a first installment in what is to be a regular monthly feature of my contributions to this blog: Your Monthly Smile (at the end of each month). Because caregiving is tough going sometimes, and we all need to try and catch those blue-sky moments when we can.
Next week’s Post: Navigating Menopause
North Van Caregivers 