By Abdellatif Sharaa

, it is the weekend already, believe it or not, and we are expected to see the country open up more, so please my dear friends continue being careful. Keep wearing your masks when in closed quarters, try your best to keep your distance from your brothers and sisters, and once you finish a job, wash your hands or keep a sterilizer handy. We must make OMr Corona understand that he will never ever be trusted until he goes away with anger and never shows his ugly face again no matter how long he lurks around.

As I said before, I will never get tired of saying that it is our behavior that will keep us corona-free, and if we behave as we are supposed to, coronavirus will not find a home to survive, and that home is a cell in the human lungs. If we do not heed the warnings and follow instructions, well, I am sorry, because then we will realize that we brought it upon ourselves.

I did not have the chance to sit next to my father a lot as I left home early on, then one day after getting married, I was visiting my parents and found myself sitting next to my father during a hot day. We were having a cold drink, and talking about the lives of grownups, marriage, responsibilities and commitments. My father started to turn the ice cubes in his glass, then gave me a stern and serious look and said: do not forget your friends at all, they will be more important to you as you grow older. He continued, regardless of how much you love your family and children, you will always need friends. Remember to go out with them and keep in touch.

What a strange advice, I thought to myself back then. I just joined the married life, I grew wiser, and thought that for sure my wife and the family we will build will be all that is needed to give my life a meaning. Yet, I followed my father's advice and kept in touch with my friends, and I was keen to increase their number each year. Then as years went by, I realized that my father knew what he was talking about.

After a life that spanned over sixty years, here is what I learned: Time goes by, life keeps moving on, distances grow larger, children grow up and become independent and often get separated from their families although this breaks the family's hearts, jobs come and go, people do what they should not do, parents pass away, colleagues forget what you gave them, yet true friends remain regardless of time and distance between them. Love your family, care for your children, but let there be friends for you.