TheBanyanTree: Long Drawn-Out Goodbye

[NancyIee at aol.com]

We've been soulmate friends for nigh unto two years. When I think of 
something fun to do, or some place I really want to visit, my first inclination is to 
call her with a "wanna come along?"

We have much in common, and yet enough difference in our histories to have a 
lifetime's worth of stories to tell each other. We talk on the phone four or 
five times a day. Nothing important, just a good sale going on, a glitch in 
traffic, or a good movie to see. Or, just to chat.  Baring one's soul and 
concerns and joys becomes habit.

We lived together for a time, a few months and weeks hee and there, as need 
and inclination came up.  But, now, she has moved out to house-sit far far away 
for many a moon.

I thought I would perish.  Phone calls were long distance, movies or dinner 
out meant driving an hour for each, and another hour late at night, which 
didn't appeal.  We chatted online, but there is no body language or smirks online. 
It lost something in the lack of translation, talking online.

We spent part of Sunday together, returning Christmas gifts and having lunch 
together. We dabted seeing a movie, but then it would be dark, and that long 
drive to our respective domiciles . .we passed on the movie.

Now, I watch tv alone. I started painting again, something left off when she 
and I had so much to do together.  I spent more time in my neglected garden. I 
had time to stand outside and chat with neighbors.

I'm much alone again. I miss my friend, my soulmate. Yet, after a couple of 
weeks, I know I will survive.  

When her house-sitting is done, we might toy with living together again. It's 
fun, it's comforting, it's a sense of family.  Still, I have no friction in 
my daily life. No critiques on how I load the dishwasher, or my irkedness when 
her mail is scattered all over the coffee table. 

I wonder. At the end of her months of house-sitting, will we have found 
resolution in each of our lives. Will we value are new-found independence more than 
the togetherness?  Will we joyfully think about being together again, or are 
the months ahead merely a long, drawn-out goodbye?
NancyLee