Photo by Blondinrikard Fröberg

By Diana Kim

I text you randomly, sometimes late in the evening, asking if you are available to meet.
We rally at a local diner and order a few items off their menu to justify our taking up space.
An appetizer. A cup of coffee. A dessert item.
Once we have been situated, I let out my frustrations from the day and the week.
I let out my frustrations that made me so upset I could not hold it in any longer, that I needed to call you that I might share with someone.
I complain about work and how I find the workplace so toxic. I complain about the messed up family situation I am in. I complain about life.
There are tears.
There is slamming of tables.
There is silence and pondering.
There is listening.
There is acceptance.
There is no judgment.
As you listen, you become upset for me.
You empathize my hurt, even if you cannot fully know what it is that I am going through.
You help me see my reality, imagine with me a future that I want, and become angry with my family in my stead.

I am grateful that you responded to my text.
I am grateful that you made yourself available to meet with me.
I am grateful that you listen to me.
I am grateful that you witness my tears.
I am grateful for you.

We sit in the local diner until I have processed, as much as I can at this point, my frustrations.
We walk to our cars and wave goodbye. “I’ll see you later.”
We go on our ways.

On my drive home, I process my conversation and my friendship.
I am grateful to have such a friend, who will listen to me as I share my life, struggles, and vulnerabilities with her.
I am grateful to have such a friend, who will share with me her life, struggles, and vulnerabilities.
Though life moves on and though we are unable to meet as frequently as we did when we were younger, you still make time for me, especially when it matters.

Thank you for being a friend.

Diana Kim is a pastor of a local Korean church in Torrance, CA. Her primary goals in serving are to teach and equip the next generation to be passionate for Jesus and to live out His passion and care for the world. Diana is currently a PhD student at Fuller Theological Seminary and is majoring in Christian Ethics. Her current research area of interest is Asian American feminist ethics.