Separated

When you have been separated from your best friend for over 2 months, you begin to feel it in your bones. Like a stubborn ache you can't quite pin point. Some days, it finds it way to my upper back and other times it makes my feet cramp up.  Missing her sometimes weighs so very heavy on my chest. Like a stack of books that need to be returned to the library that have been forgotten about.  You know you need to return them just to remove the pressure.

Living in Minnesota and she in Georgia has presented challenges. I can't walk across the street and share a cup of coffee and talk all morning.  When the days are difficult, I am not able to hug her until the weariness begins to fade. We aren't able to enjoy Sunday mornings at church, our families worshiping the Lord side by side.

The absence actually presents physical pain.  A tightness in my throat, and pain in my heart. When she and her family moved about a year a half ago, I found myself weepy and emotional for a ridiculous amount of time.  The separation didn't really get any easier.  Challenges with children, with work, with friendships and life in general, would make the absence known even more.

We came up with a plan, I would visit Georgia in November, she would come to Minnesota in January. Then our families would travel together during spring  break and one family would either fly south or the other north each summer.  You would believe that texting, phone calls, face time and seeing each other would make the storm flee, however the saying goodbye each time is just an ever present reminder that another long spell will pass before we are face to face.

My dear girl and I are together now. She flew in so we could enjoy 4 plus days together. (Personally, I feel the entire state of Georgia needs to know how lucky they are to have her.) We try new wines, we share The Word with each other. We update each other on the long important details of life events that we weren't able to cover completely on the phone. We laugh, and we cry and talk about each and every time we will see each other in the coming months. We take joy in each others happy days and comfort each other discussing the struggles. But most of all, we just treasure the time we have together.  Sometimes, we sit silently. And it is enough. It is enough to just be together.

Never take for granted a friend who loves you fiercely, laughs with you freely and confronts you boldly. These are the friends you hold dear.  Nurture those relationships like your life depended on it.