Time and Distance

This is a little something that I think about every once in a while - the fact that most of my life I have been playing a little game of see how long this one lasts with my friendships. Being a child who moved from place to place, and having grown into an adult (if you can cal it that) who likes to seek the next big thing and suffers from a slight case of wanderlust, it is sometimes amazing to me that I know people I can call friend in every place I have been and in every place I want to go. I sometimes think about the distance, especially when a friend needs me. And I think about the time I spend away from them. I also seem to spend much time thinking about all the times we had together as friends; all the things that cemented our bonds and made us the friends we are today. Sometimes the best - and worst - part of having so many friends who are so far away is that I think over all the happy times with them and my heart longs to be close to them again. To hear them in person, instead of holding a phone to my ear or trying to convey in black and white the things that require nuance and grace and fiber of being.

But all of this pales in comparison when I think about the fact that even through all this distance, there are people who try. People who go out of their way to come and visit and spend some time with me. People who are happy to treat my home as their own and people who will allow me the pleasure whenever I have the need to treat their home as mine. I sometimes feel a tinge of remorse and regret when I notice that yet one more person has suddenly been lost to the void; that I am no longer connected to their life. But yet, I look at all the connections I can still count on and I think how very lucky I am that to these people, time and distance is all just a relative concept.