A sisterhood that was (is?)

I finally watched the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2 yesterday, after months of trying to hunt it down on the net, and it was SO GREAT! It's the kind of movie that EVERYONE should watch, even guys, because I think each of us can find a part of ourselves and our friends and families somewhere in the leading characters of Bridget, Tibby, Lena and Carmen.
I totally identified with the story right from when I watched the first movie because I too used to be (still am?) one of a group of four best friends at school and even though we haven't known each other since we were babies, what we had (have?) was (is?) really special. I think I'm most like Carmen, because I'm the most introspective of my three friends. Like Carmen, I keep struggling to figure out where I fit, what I feel, and how I can somehow keep our friendship strong forever. I think I understand the fragility and the value of our friendship a little more than the three of them, and that's why I always feel so scared that we'll grow too far apart, if that hasn't already happened. In fact, i feel that way about any friendship. Some people label it insecurity, others call it useless fretting, but I feel that once I get close to someone they become a part of my world, and just the mere thought of losing them completely tears me apart.
After Carmen, I'm most like Lena: introverted and quiet, unable to open up to people at times. Like her, i sometimes feel scared of being alone forever.
Then of course, there's the sarcastic, cynical side of me, very much like Tibby. And, just like her, I've learned to keep that side in check because it can border on being outright mean.
And then there's Bridget, who's my favorite character. Maybe because I wish i was more like her. She's impulsive and reckless, outgoing and adventurous. Although there are times when the crazy, impulsive person inside me does come out and I just do what i want to do without thinking too much of what will be the outcome, i usually end up seriously regretting whatever i do. And then my mood spirals downwards and i feel stupid and empty, much like Bridget feels in the first movie after returning from the soccer camp.
One of my three best friends is a lot like Bridget...and she's the one who made me open up quite a bit after we became friends in 8th Grade. She's beautiful and outgoing, a little boy-crazy, and very impulsive, and i love her to bits. We don't talk too often nowadays, because I'm in India and she's in Malaysia studying to become a doctor, but whenever we do talk, it's like we pick up right where we left off, as if the distance doesn't make the slightest difference. The only thing is, sometimes i feel like she, as well as the other 2, are moving on too fast, leaving me behind. Every time i talk to them, i can't help thinking how they all have a LIFE, where as I...well, where as I feel quite the same as i did back in school: dependent on my parents, trapped, unable to do what i really want to do how i really want to do it, confused about who I am and where I'm headed. Sometimes i feel a tad bit jealous of them, as strange as that sounds. But i can't help it. I haven't seen any of them in over 3 years but they've all seen each other at least once or twice, so i can't help but feel a little left out. It's because they all go back home to Kenya once in a while where their families are, but I don't have any family there anymore and I definitely don't have the money to visit on my own. We often talk about meeting up some day, and I for one look forward to that day all the time. I have so much to share with them, so much to talk about that can't be talked about over the internet. I want to see how we've all changed and grown, and how we're still similar. I want to know whether the bonds we once shared still exist or are they lost forever. I want to know whether our own special sisterhood is now a mere sisterhood that was, or is it still there, just waiting to be fortified and bloom again when and if all four of us get together again.