You may not see them all the time but when you do, the time and distance between you disappears and it is as if you were never parted. I have many friends like this (and you know who you are). Friends from grade school, friends from high school, friends met on vacations, friends from old jobs, old relationships and other decades. Friends who knew me as I was then but are excited to see me as I am now. These are my “accepting” friends – my “deep down, buried in my heart” friends.
I have a friend who I haven’t seen for 4 or 5 years now. She pops into my mind at the oddest times. I think of her often this time of year (spring and early summer) because when we met 22 years ago, it was early April. We slept in the same room for 10 weeks. After that we moved and slept down the hall from one another for many months until we finally parted over a year later. I always think about her in June because her birthday is the last day of the month. For the last week, I’ve been thinking about her constantly and frantically searching the internet for any sign of her.
Today I decided to google her email address and discovered her mother using it for a geneology search. I had met her mother a few times and really liked her. When I googled her mother’s name, I found an Ebituary. My stomach dropped. I scanned the listing quickly, searching for my friend’s name. She was listed as one of the bereaved. So was her mother. It was then that I realized her older sister had just died, six days ago. The funeral was held just two days ago. The skin on my arms started prickling the way it does when something unusual happens. I read the online condolences and added my own.
Today at lunch, I will be buying her a sympathy card, along with a birthday card and I will no longer put off writing her that long ago promised letter.
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