Lost Friends

We all have them.
Some of us are in denial.
No, it doesn't matter that you friended them on Facebook.
Or they sent you a message on MYSPACE.
They are gone.  Lost to time and relative space.

These are the friends that you grew up with.
You spent the night at their house.
You tormented your siblings by saying you told your friend they liked them. I mean "LIKED" them.
You tormented their parents by showing up unannounced to go on their vacation with them.
These are the buddies you got detention with.
Caught frogs with.   Shot roman candles at each other.  Could both ride your bikes without hands.
Pick something.  I bet you had a friend you did that with.

But where are they now?
Did they move?  Get a new job?  Get married?  Get divorced?
Spouse can't stand them?  Kids hate them?
Or does your family not even know they exist?
No. Bobby the Wolfboy, your imaginary friend when you were five does not count.

Your friend is gone.  You never see them.

I had a few friends like that.  I knew them in school.
I knew their family.  I played with their brother's and sisters.
I loved their parents almost like my own.
These friends are gone now.

No, don't read the wrong thing into it, they are still alive.
But I haven't seen any of them in years.
I even follow one on Twitter.

But like so many things in the world, life gets in the way.
I have my life and they have theirs.  That is what time does.
I saw one a few months after my daughter was born.
I told him I was staying home with her.
He said something to the effect that I was now the "bitch"
I couldn't care if I saw him for awhile.

As for the "relative space" I mentioned earlier.
I have a friend who was living only a few blocks from me.
But he never stopped by.  Even though he helped me move into our house.
He now still lives only a couple of miles away.  But he still hasn't taken me up on the offer of a beer.
I sent him a message in May of '09.
Did I mention that he was the Best Man at my wedding?

It saddens me to think that friends come and go so easily.
Reach out to someone from your past.  Share a pitcher of beer and re-hash old times.
While you may not see them again for awhile, you may find you still have something in common.
Even if it is just a fond remembrance of that Farrah Fawcett poster in your bedroom.

I have gotten some new friends since school.  And I hope they will be around for a long time.
( I need someone to help me move again)

I am surrounded by people who appreciate me for who I have become, and respect me for what I do.
These are the friends to have.