I always thought we would be friends forever, especially when we were older. Together on our path.

 
Our circumstances or distances would not matter.

 
Imbalances would sort themselves out.

 
To me, friendships forged in shared work or cause were permanent.

Solidified by being together through the best and worst. The beautiful and beastly.

 
But then I realized there’s no commitment ceremony for friendship, no binding treaty.

 
It’s just a matter of whether or not we keep showing up for one another. It’s just a choice we make over and over again.

 
A choice that does not depend on likes, or mood, or ease, or circumstances, or distances.

 
Friends are the people I still dig deep for, whose hurts I attend to, whose joys I celebrate out loud, and also quietly in my heart.

 
I still look to see that you are thriving, and my eyes well up when I witness what you have become, knowing what you’ve overcome.

 
*i wrote this for you.