Friends and relatives come and go.
This is my entry to @mariannewest’s daily 5-minute Freewrite. See details here
Friends and relatives come and go.
They always come back to life for my birthday, the ones that get lost in the meanderings of life.
It feels good after long hiatuses.
It feels good, even if it doesn't last much.
It is a strange feeling, though, to know that some people actually think about you, even though for different reasons they don’t always find a way to get to you. It makes you think about your own reasons not to get to them.
Birthdays, like funerals, make people rethink their relationships with the living and the prospects of death.
Birthdays, like funerals, make us rethink our relationship with ourselves and others. Two days ago, the mother of a dear friend from HS, with whom I kept a close relationship, even though life kept us apart, died. It felt so bad to know that my friend could not even get to his mother’s funeral: a mere 8-hour drive separated them. It is extremely hard to go from one city to another, almost as difficult as going from one country to another. The occasion made us talk again after a couple of years. So much can happen in a couple of years that people can feel like strangers, and yet rememorizing repaves the broken roads of friendship and family love. It bridges the gaps that time and space creates and reminds us of the importance of a good, old-fashioned conversation, even if it comes forced by the social convention of a congratulation or a condolence.
Tomorrow, we go back to business as usual, hoping to keep the promises we make for those special occasions.
