I’m not sure if I believe in soul mates. If there was only one soul mate for each of us on this planet, the chances of finding them would be pretty small.
But I do believe that there are certain people in life that we are meant to meet and that when we do, they will have a lasting effect on you for the rest of your life.
These people will make you feel something that you have never felt before, whether it’s an amazing love, a friendship like no other, someone you see as a role model or perhaps a mentor. Or maybe it’s somebody that just had a really strong impact on you and that you think of every now and then.
In 2016, while living in Guatemala in Central America, I met a girl from Canada called Nuria. Nuria was working for a non-profit organisation that helped children. We hit it off instantly and despite living thousands of miles apart, we have since been to 4 different countries and hiked two different mountain ranges together.
I have never in my life, had a friend like Nuria, nor have I ever admired a woman like I do her. She has taught me what true friendship is. She has taught me about boundaries and self-worth. She has taught me about the world, politics, different cultures and different history. She has taught me about people and emotions, words and feelings.
I read a poem by Rupi Kaur called ‘I want to apologise,’ and it’s always made me think of Nuria.
I want to apologise to all the women I have called beautiful before I’ve called them intelligent or brave. I am sorry I made it sound as though something as simple as what you’re born with is all you have to be proud of- when you have broken mountains with your wit. From now on, I will say things like you are resilient, or you are extraordinary. Not because I don’t think you’re beautiful but because I need you to know you are more than that.
Last year, at the beginning of the pandemic, while Nuria was living alone in Brussels, Belgium, her 26-year-old younger brother Adam suddenly died and she couldn’t fly home to Canada to say goodbye. Instead she had to watch him being buried over zoom, alone in her apartment.
My guest on this week's episode of The Nosey Fox podcast is the amazing Nuria Elkout but this is not an episode solely on friendship, this is an episode about grief and heartbreak and how the strongest woman I know, came through the other side.
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