I Went To My Friend’s Breakup Party

I got a text from my good friend, Adam. The text said, “Hey loser, We broke up. See you at my place on Saturday at 7 pm. It’s a breakup party. Get ready to get wasted. Bring some booze.”

Though we live in the same city, he and I are poles apart in our characters. I am a pristine introvert and he is a wild extrovert. So, he basically adopted me when we were kids.

He invites me to a number of events and I reject 98% of his invitations. That’s how it’s always been for over two decades. But it never seems to cease, his love for me and our friendship. Magical, isn’t it?

Anyway, I was at his place at 7 pm that day, and a few of his wild, extroverted friends were already there. I was welcomed and accommodated like always. We spoke about everything, especially what went wrong in his relationship.

His girlfriend, now ex, is also my friend and a nice girl. He said they were doing well for a few years but started having issues in the last year or so.

She wanted us to split up and stuck to her decision, he said.

More people started turning up. And then Maria came, his ex. I was both shocked and surprised at the same time. I never expected her to come to the breakup party.

First of all, I did not know that people even celebrated breakups. When I broke up with my ex-girlfriend, it was over once and for all. We did not talk or keep in touch with each other. My life was so. This was quite new to me.

She was all dressed up and looked lovely as ever. The party was fun and all. Then my friend made us sit and he sat with her.

We all watched pictures and videos of their days together, from the first day of their relationship until now.

The exes were holding hands and reminiscing and relishing every picture and memory. I felt like I was in another dimension, watching two aliens do something that’s usually unusual on Earth.

It went on for two hours.

Then there was the cake-cutting ceremony. I saw these words on the cake, “To the lovely couple who are parting ways. All is well.” They both cut the cake and fed each other and all of us.

They then narrated the reasons for their break up in depth. I thought it would stir up some emotions and anger. But to my surprise, they both were very level-headed and chilled out. This, this, and this happened and so we chose to call our relationship a day. Short and sweet.

The last event of the break-up party was the official breakup speech. It was quite similar to the wedding speech where others say good and funny stuff about the bride and the groom.

I wasn’t asked to prepare anything. I still don’t know why. But all his other friends stood up and spoke a few words about the two of them.

There were tears of joy this time. The couple had wet eyes. Then, the big event. The official breakup. My friend stood up and gave his speech and then she did the same. The couple wished each other a good future. They kissed for one last time and hugged each other for a full minute.

The party was over. I came back home.

I was pondering over a few things that night.

These days, people tend to get all stressed out and enraged about little things happening around them. There’s so much hatred among people for so many trivial reasons. But what my friend and his ex did was something I will never forget.

They had the courage and the right attitude to take it easy and chose to smile and be happy until the end. They also chose to celebrate their time together rather than becoming brutal foes like most couples.

People come into our lives for a reason or two. People go away from us for a reason or two. No one owns anyone so much as to lose them. There’s always a reason or two or more for anything good or bad that happens to us.

Some may cross paths with us to teach us good things, and some may do so to teach us resilience by dropping us into darkness and leaving us there. It'd be awesome if we learned to embrace both the good and the bad in the same manner, considering them as lessons in life.

Wouldn't the world be a much better place if most people had the practical forgiving attitude my friends had? 

Bless your enemy or someone who hurts you, and see the magic of happiness unfold in you.

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