Faces in the Hall

Much like milk, everything in life eventually expires; even life itself. Since I can remember, I've had friends come in and out of my life. I have had a few that I would like to consider "life-long" friends, but even that becomes difficult to do. Sometimes "life-long" friends slip away. But whatever right? Hopefully this isn't too much different from what you have experienced in your life.

In high school there are so many faces in the hallway and then there are your best friends; your inseparable entourage.
And then over time you spend more and more time not talking to the point where it seems normal. Then you go to college and you don't speak to each other at all. It doesn't even faze you. And the world keeps turning.

Sometimes friendships burn like a white flame for a few years, and then some of them sort of dissipate, not disappear, just put on the back burner for a while; while others completely die off. But like in the movies, sometimes they come back.

I had a few very close friends of whom I sort of lost touch with more than a couple years ago (one or two was my fault; I have a problem with distancing myself sometimes.) But anyway, I was thick as thieves with these guys (like the kids in Stand By Me or Sandlot.) And all of a sudden, I wasn't. Everyone went their separate way. Sometimes life gets in the way, and I guess we accept it.

Recently I have reconnected with some of them and we talk frequently. And now that I am older and I understand this stuff a little better, it is all easier.

All along the way, I have made friendships that will last a lifetime and some that won't last until Christmas. I'm being honest: I have friends at work and at school, but when I'm done there, I probably will never see them again. It's weird the way life works, but I'm ready for it and everything that comes with it.

It's one of those bittersweet things we go through as we get older: to wonder about old friends. What are they doing now? Why did we lose touch? Better yet, when did we lose touch? Is it even worth trying to reconnect?

Take it for what it is. Eventually, they all become some more faces in the hall.