Thursday, March 16, 2017

Reflection



She is the picture of joy, laughing on a beach in Thailand. She inspires me.

*

This morning I tweeted these words: 

The moment when you realize there are some people from your past you may never see again in life. And it's ok.

Without going into reasons, I felt the need to write those words down, to acknowledge their truth, and to move the melancholy that came with them outside of myself. 

Later in the morning, I logged back into my Twitter feed to delete those words, as they had served their purpose. I was stunned to see how many times this single tweet had been liked and retweeted. What? I'd thought it was an oblique sentiment, meaningful only to me, but I was wrong. I didn't delete the tweet after all as it seemed to have some resonance. It is a sad thing to come to terms with the fact that some relationships are unlikely ever to be what they once were. Too much has come between you. It is an odd comfort to know that the realization, and the regretful resignation it brings, are simply a part of life, experienced in some form by many.

The sweetest thing, though, was this note in my inbox from someone I haven't seen in a decade, a woman who now lives in L.A., who was only six years old and wearing a frilly yellow dress when I first met her: "This reminds me to remind you that I love and miss you very much," she wrote. And there was more, which I won't encroach on her privacy to share, but thanks to her, my mood was transformed from sadness and melancholy to love and gratitude—for all of it. For what is forever gone, and what is still to come.


6 comments:

  1. There's that little sage in you, shining out. And such beautiful and meaningful wisdom it brought.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So much truth in so few words. Absolutely.
    And you know- we can no more hang on to every relationship that brought us joy at one time than we can hang on to every pair of shoes we ever loved. There would be no room for new and besides that, relationships can become as worn out and useless as a pair of old flip-flops.
    My god, your daughter is gorgeous and she looks as happy as a human can look.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those words are so true. I'm glad you didn't delete them. They may have served your purpose but now someone else needs them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. She truly is the perfect picture of joy. Your post is beautiful and true.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for your kind offer, I accept!

    ReplyDelete