We have an interesting story you and I. It started many years ago, when things were… well… easier. We had our small group of friends and saw each other all during the week. I remember being stoked to see you every Wednesday night; I’ll always remember you laughing at me when I attempted to hug you after youth group; laughing at my shyness.  That fourteen-year-old kid I once was will forever remember those hugs.

The only thing we ever really worried about back then was getting from point A to point B. We never worried about who would be there, or who we wouldn’t really want to see. We never went out of the way to avoid confrontation. We never had any. It’s funny how growing up comes with all these consequences, how little things break us apart.

Somewhere along the line, we changed. We slowly listened to other opinions and in turn changed our own. Why is that? Why didn’t I ever come to you and ask you about the truth? Why didn’t you ever ask me? All the sudden we created these walls among friends, we developed this view that seemed so important, so necessary. However, it wasn’t a viewpoint of who you really were. I lost sight of that. We lost sight of each other. You were leaving my life, and I justified it however I could, when really the old me, the fourteen-year-old me just missed his friend. He wanted to find her again.

So this went on, weeks turned into months, months soon became years and your heart was nowhere in sight. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway, I built up many walls and created such expectations, I knew you’d never pass them. That’s what we do when we can’t find one another, we build up walls, and turn our backs to who we could be again, whom we once were. Now, “we are simply two sad souls that can’t count the cost.”

We began growing up, really moving on. We moved; changed friends and eventually were not even second thoughts to each other. How could I be a thought to you anymore? Yes, I think of you often. I think of what I could have done differently. Think of how I lost you. But, you couldn’t possibly think of me, I never crossed your mind…. How could I?

Like our old goodbye hugs, this next memory I will also never forget…

There you were. I couldn’t believe it when I saw you; I took a couple glances, and made sure those eyes were yours. You noticed me looking across that coffee shop floor. Those eyes piercing mine. We were no longer young, no more stupid arguments and games in the way. We were just looking at one another again. Really looking. While exchanging apologies, a single tear rolled down your cheek. You gave me the first real hug I had in years; shaking my foundation…

In a soft sentence she stated, “Thank you for finding me again.” The simplest purest thing she ever told me.

The truth is, she had been thinking of me. Missing our old adventures and youthful curiosity.  We both agreed that our past mistakes didn’t have to affect the people we were now. We let go of it all. All the judgment, worry and anger. To put it simply, it didn’t matter anymore. We had found who we were and realized we wanted to impact each other again. We missed being there.

While this story may not exactly reflect a happening in your life, I hope it makes you think. Make sure you find the line of true importance. Always be slow to create judgmental opinions. Know your friends’ worth, and don’t you ever take them for granted, because you may not be able to find them after a failed friendship. LOVE LOUD and take every adventure along the way.