Back in touch

 

Sometimes the paths which we choose in this life pull us away from people that have been our world for a moment in time.   I allow myself to become too attached to people that peek their heads into my world.  I love them like they will never leave.  Funny thing is that I love them after they make their exit.  They just aren't aware that once they have a piece of my heart they are always a part of my life.

 

Last week I had a friend call me.  Not that it is unusual for friends to contact me, but this time it was a friend who had sent a very generic email to me out of the blue asking me not to contact him anymore because he was trying to make a relationship work and his girlfriend was uncomfortable with him having female friends.   Out of respect, I did exactly that.  It had been a year and a half since that email.  It wasn't easy to not contact him so I erased his phone numbers out of my phone and got rid of his email.   I had to.  It was too much not to call him on his birthday or to tell him about my day.  This was someone that I would spend hours on the phone with and would spend even more time together.   He would drop by my work just because and I called him when I needed hugs.  Not something that was easily thrown away after years of having him there.

 

He was incredibly timid when he said hello, but I immediately recognized his voice and had to hold back the tears.   It had been a month since they had broken up, but he didn't know what to say to me after so long and wasn't sure how I would react.  Then he remembered that it was me and that I only fight for 2.3 seconds.  We talked forever, but it still didn't seem long enough.  The ironic thing is that in all honesty we have absolutely nothing in common…..not religion, not culture, not values, not family life, not interests, nothing.   However, we talk about everything.  There is no holding back with our thoughts and opinions.  I made him promise to keep in touch and call me the next time he was in town because he was severely behind on hugs.   He agreed.

 

Yesterday I locked myself in my bedroom and took advantage of some alone time.  I needed to sort some things out that I had been avoiding.  I realized just how many people have blessed my life throughout the years.   I distinctly remember the heartache that follows someone disappearing from the spotlight in my heart to the backdrops of the shadows.  The memories however are ones that always bring sunshine into my life and love into my heart.   No matter the time that laps or the circumstances which cause the distance, the hurt always fades and I am able to remember just the enduring qualities of that person.   As I prepare for changes in my life, this is something to which I will cling.