Friends far away

March 3, 2014 by Heather Christensen 21 Comments

This week’s Daily Post Challenge, “threes,” is an invitation to respond to one of six photographic triptychs.

I scrolled quickly through them, and the last set of photos grabbed me.

I saw the distinctive roofline of the Sydney Opera House and thought, “Australia!”

And then, “Lisa lives there. Well, not in Sydney, but still.”

Just for a moment, the photos, and the thought of Lisa, pushed hard on a sore spot.

The propelling force of my life has been centrifugal. My friendships have been like the steamed kale I put in the Vitamix this morning—hurled away from the center, shredded, splattered up, out, against the sides of the container.

We live in a time of such tremendous mobility. Lisa and I became friends during our first week of college, and now she lives in Australia, and I live in Alaska. Two wonderful adventures.

Given the choice, I suspect Lisa and I would make the same decisions that took us far from home, far from friends, that pushed us to places where we had to recreate our lives, put down new roots, try to make new friends.

But the cost is high, and some days I envy those who stayed closer to home.

Some days I wish I could wrap my fingers around a cup of coffee, look across the table, and have a long talk with a friend who has known me for decades.

Today is one of those days.