Always in My Heart

I was just reading Heather King's memoir Parched, and got caught by surprise at what she said after telling about two of her closest friends from her teenage years:

"I would go on to have a long, long history with both of them, and though they are no longer part of my daily life, even now keep them always in my heart."

Almost immediately my thoughts shot to some of the very dear people in my heart, bonds formed in high school or before. My throat got tight, and tears filled my eyes. I know just what she means.

I can't explain why it is that a bond could be so strong that even if I don't get to see or talk to some of these people for years or decades, I'd drop everything to help them in a time of need, or to listen if they needed to talk. But it's there.

I miss those people. I am so glad about the ones that I keep in contact with. I think of them often, and hope that life's ups and downs have not been too unkind.

I was thinking that the years that have gone by since high school feel, to me, less like a time line and more like a journey that has led me far, far away. I have this vague idea that maybe if we could all walk back the way we came, maybe we could recapture our youth. Maybe get a do-over on some things that we now have the life experience to understand more fully than we could then.