Lost
I’ve written, like, a bunch of stuff. Drafts upon drafts. Nothing seems right. Maybe it hasn’t sunk in yet. Maybe I’m not far enough away from whatever I’m feeling to really see it and understand it. Maybe there just aren’t any words that really fit.
I hate goodbye. Not like most people hate goodbye. I don’t believe in it. I believe in road trips, flights around the world. I believe in the circuitousness of life. I believe in Heaven.
But there are definitely moments in your life you wouldn’t hesitate to beg people not to leave. You want to be selfish. You want them to be where you are. Your life is moving on just fine staying put, why can’t theirs do the same? Why do they have to “go out there to see what life has in store”?
I wish I could go with you, Dan, but that would be wrong. What’s right is that you’re so far away and yet I won’t have a problem waking up tomorrow, I won’t be afraid that the distance means our friendship is over, that the best days are behind us. Those were good times, but so good I don’t know how we could ever let them be our last together. Yes, there will be more, more that our experiences apart will cultivate into something even better.
So while you fly away to the motherland, I wanted to offer some encouraging reminders of loss (seems oxymoronish, or maybe just moronish). Here goes … you lost Wendy’s but you haven’t lost Fish n Chips. You lost the warmth of a summer day, but you haven’t lost blue skies. You lost I-540 but you haven’t lost other long, unbeaten paths to explore the world with. You lost 3234, but you haven’t lost other places to share your, umm, quirks. Most importantly, you lost Raleigh, but you haven’t lost us. And, Dan … don’t forget to represent.