When you’ve reached the holiday card only stage in communicating with a friend, you might sense that this longstanding bond between the two of you no longer exists. As you likewise observe so many people prejudging others and arguing incessantly on social media, you realize how damaging such high degree of political and moral unrest happening can be quite detrimental to your own social circle. But in overlooking such revealing life trends, Jason remained naively adamant that his longtime friend of over fifty years, Jackson, would remain his trusting companion for life.
Being thus determined to bolster such firm beliefs about the strength of his bond with Jackson, Jason could thus easily flashback to their shared common interests in sports, music, and hard work pursuit of excellence throughout middle/high school, college years, and in their respective career professions. In particular, he could feel genuine joy now in recollecting about those close friendship moments of performing together in marching/concert band, exchanging timely resume and interview tips or engaging in lighthearted banter at a live, Major League baseball game.
But then two events happened a few years ago to change the direction of their friendship. For one, a girl appeared in Jackson’s life to redirect his attention to get married. Following their wedlock, the desire to advance in his current position dictated that Jackson also accept reluctantly an out of state position at a higher pay. Keep in mind in this regard that Jackson loved where he lived now. So in spite of the move, he would retain a residence from his deceased parents back home and frequently fly back to stay there on many weekends. But on such return occasions, Jason noticed that Jackson seemed uninterested in allotting some quality time to spend with him. For any emails and text messages Jason received from him resonated excuses about being too busy to see him. Eventually, their electronic communication exchanges grew totally silent.
So as Jason settled into the less hectic routine of his retirement years, he often pondered the reasons for this sudden cessation of their friendship. Had he said something that “pissed Jackson off”? Was his friend’s new wife jealous of him spending time with Jason? Was he suffering from some taxing physical or mental illness? Or might he had just wanted to find more privacy in the absence of a steady job?
But then reality struck Jason as he took into his family a small child who’d lost his mother and father during the violent gang war in Haiti. Thereupon reassessing the gift of life itself, Jason now felt that whatever the reasons for Jackson’s loss, he decided it best to “move on” from such friendship nostalgia with him. He definitely would still miss dearly his friend but now accepted the realization that he no longer wished to waste his precious time living on earth with such worrying.
Excluding any religious overtones, here’s a song I can always play to mark such feelings. Click the link below.
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