Originally published Monday, 05 May 2014.
The sun is up on a Monday morning and my heart's a little achy. It's mornings like these that I remind myself of the quote by A.A. Milne that I love so much:
"How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard?"
One of my dearest friends, with whom I share a passion for Broadway, coffee and Christ, stayed with me for two nights on her spring break.
She's a music teacher to elementary school kids. But she's a teacher of so much more to me: faith, grace, patience and confidence.
She's a pick-back-up friend, meaning that no matter how many weeks separate our phone chats, and how many months separated our in-person chats, she's still a real-good, tell-me-what's-going-on-in-your-life sort of friend.
Our souls bonded together our sophomore year of college, and since then we have shared so many joys and the inner-labyrinths of our struggles together. She's the type of friend–aside from my mother–who's always one of the first up to bat when it comes to making important decisions, or slugging through the ever-awkward quarter-life crises.
She's leaving today, and I'm stubbornly hoping that our time together doesn't end. She's pressed snooze on her phone, and I'm dragging my heels while getting ready for work (hence, this blog post).
This weekend, she and I wore ourselves out with sunshine, walking on the Virginia Beach boardwalk and coffee dates. We worshiped together, we got sand everywhere together, we took a reprieve from standing on the shore and found solace by way of margaritas and guacamole dip. We got matching rings together, little gold and silver bands, hers reading hope and mine reading faith.
Last night we returned to my apartment tired from a day well-lived.
It's a special sort of exhaustion, like when your cheeks are sore from laughing and smiling so much.
She's one of those friends you have to say "goodbye" quickly to. Because if you don't, you'll be caught in a swirl of her absence–her presence in your life so real and impressionable that when she's gone, you hurt.
Days I lived with her this past weekend are what we call Kingdom Days. Days where God feels so close, because you've lived them with your heart wide open.
I don't think any of us is closer to the Kingdom than when we are connecting with the people that we love.
This morning, she and I will have a quick goodbye. I will tell her not to look at me while she drives away. Because sometimes parting ways is too difficult for eye contact.
But, I'm lucky to have this woman in my life. A friendship that makes saying goodbye so hard. Because it makes hello so much more sweet.
photo credit: Lisa Widerberg via photopin cc
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