Friendship.

Photo: Melissa Askew on Unsplash

Broken plans turn into days, weeks, months gone by.
Months equals milestones, emotions, holidays, feelings, changes and love that is missed.
So much time.
Gone.

Less time spent together forms a distance between two old friends that's never existed before.
A gigantic space in the hearts and souls of the pair.
The once close duo.
Gone.

The flutters of the prospect of new friends, as plans are made and excitement builds.
With the drop of a sword those plans are crushed by an outside influence and a perfect storm of emotion.
How quick are new friends to rescind the offering of friendship to be one in the crowd instead.
Gone.

They tell you that they care and will be there to support you.
Words of honor and kinship and support are offered up without hesitation.
As quickly as the wagons were circled they go on up the trail without you.
Gone.

His hands run up your spine as they wrap around your sullen shoulders.
He wraps you in a warm embrace and tells you everything will be all right.
He is peace, he is there, he never leaves.
Home.

She calls you every other month from her home five hundred miles away.
Her voice is like the sound of the first birds in spring - warm, inviting and comforting.
You miss her more than you can tell her on the phone because if she hears your voice crack hers surely will as well.
Home.

They are blood of your blood, name of your name.
They drive you crazy and anger you like no other, but they are yours and you are theirs.
So many memories, stories and so, so much love - that special kind reserved only for family.
Home.

A kindred soul that you've yet to meet in person.
A woman you've formed a bond with over a shared loss.
This one is different than the others - calmer, less interested in political gain, and more concerned about who you are and who you want to be.
Home.

Gone. Home. Somewhere in between. Friendship is different for all of us. It ebbs and flows. It comes and it goes. It's there then it's not.

This piece was originally posted on These Boys of Mine by Britt LeBoeuf