Hello?

Some friendships are short, but poignant: like sparklers, they come into your life at a particular moment, spark for a while, then fizzle out and die. 

Some friendships begin and never end; internalized, they become so much a part of you that the line where you start and they begin blurs. Hearts beat in sync and it's as easy as breathing. 

And then there's those friendships that exist in waves: like the tide, they ebb and flow as life interferes. You know this friend by the fact that you might go weeks, months, even years without speaking, but when you do, you pick up right where you left off. There's no awkwardness, no need for explanations. There's just laughter, and hugs, and hopefully wine. Kindred spirits such as these may travel far and wide, stretching the thread of friendship, but never severing it. Like elastic it pulls and it contracts, and when life slows down and the stars align, you find yourselves once again sharing the same space, if only for a moment. 

When I began blogging in 2008, I figured my foray into this community would be short. I didn't know what I had to offer, or how much you all would grow to mean to me. 

As the years went on, this space became my haven. My safe place, the one thing I could count on to bring me comfort. You held me up when I could no longer stand, when life battered and bruised me and broke me down. You hoped with me, you cried with me. You celebrated with me and mourned with me. We held onto each other as the storms raged on around us. You and I - we were the same. Different names, different details, but one and the same. Sharing our heartbreak and our loss, binding us together, forever. I couldn't imagine not speaking for any length of time; it would be like stopping my own lungs from breathing. 

And yet here we are. The last year has been the best one of my life, and I'm aching to share it with you. I have many excuses (time, sleep, emotions, indecision, LIFE), but what it boils down to is this: I miss you. 

You will forever be a part of me, a part of my journey. You CHANGED me. We are still connected, no matter the distance or time that separates us. 

And so, I'm picking up the figurative phone and I'm sending you a quick text. A beacon, if you will. Let's be that third type of friend, the ones for whom time and distance are relative. I've got a few moments to spare, and I'd really like to hear your voice. Your friendship is like a touchstone for me: a reminder of where I've been, and of how far I've come. I have been silent, but I've not been absent. 

I'm still here: are you?