Friends Forever

It had been such a long time since they met. Being her best friend, she had never even thought that they could lose touch with each other. And yet somehow days became weeks, weeks became months, months became years. Time went by and they had drifted apart losing contact with each other.

Had her best friend tried to contact her? Looking back into her memory she found that she couldn't remember. Had she really been that busy? Had so many other things really seemed so much more important?

Maybe they had. Had new friends replaced old friends as easily as new shoes replaced old shoes? It was a sobering thought.

And why hadn't her best friend tried to contact her? Wasn't she important enough? Standing there, feeling a little self-righteous, she figured she had a good point. How hard had her friend tried to keep in touch? What had he done to keep their friendship, their relationship, alive?

Yes, that made her feel better. She always felt better when she was able to make the other person the bad guy. It took away some of the sting, some of the guilt. If she could say that he hadn't worked hard to keep in touch, then it some how made it even that she hadn't. Friendships weren't a one-way street, right?

But didn't he work hard at it? Hadn't he offered to get together? Hadn't he tried week after week? Hadn't she always been too busy?

Thinking back, she had to admit to herself that he had. She was always the one too busy to meet. It hadn't mattered what the excuse was, she had had plenty of them. Even during the week, when she knew she could have made time, still she found excuses. When she had been in school it had been studying. She had assured him that she'd have more time to get together when she had just finished her midterms. Then, when she had finished her midterms there had been finals. Then, of course, she'd get together when her thesis was finished. She had thought for sure that she'd have had more time then.

So what had happened? How had she let their friendship, their relationship, drift so far away? And why had it taken this, a tragedy like this, to remind her of the friendship she had so callously thrown away.

Hadn't he always been there when things were rough? Wasn't his the shoulder she had cried on when Donny had dumped her for that bimbo Susan back in High School? Somehow, just having his friendship then had helped her get through her first school-girl crush, even if the guy had been a real jerk and hadn't deserved all the tears she had wasted on him. Still, it was his strong shoulder that had helped her get through it.

And how had she repaid that? By being too busy, too pre-occupied, too everything to spend time with him when it hadn't mattered how busy he might have been. He had always been there for her.

So, as she opened the door, preparing herself to face this friend that she had not seen in so many years, she wondered what would happen.

How could she face him after all she had done? How could she not when he'd come to be with her, yet again, but this time to face that which she could not face alone.

Closing her eyes, she walked into the room.

The first thing that she noticed was the quiet. Not a sound could be heard but the sound of her breathing, the sound of her beating heart.

Silently, as she walked forward, she felt his strong gaze on her. Her eyes downcast, she was afraid to look up, afraid to see the hurt and accusation in his eyes. But as she moved forward, look up she did.

The first thing she saw was the casket, plain, adorned only with some flowers. There was nothing special about the flowers, just the domestic types that could be found in any florist shop. But then again, isn't that they type of flowers she had always loved? So in a way, to be blanketed with those seemed fitting, somehow.

But it hadn't been the casket that had caught her attention, but the person inside. Looking down carefully she saw for the last time a face she had always love so dearly. Looking one last time, she said good-bye to the mother who had always loved her, the mother she had always loved. And looking at that face she didn't know how she would bear the loss alone.

It was then that she looked up. It was then that she met the face of the friend that she had ignored all those years, his sad eyes looking at her, sharing her pain as though there had been no distance between them, no postponed rendezvous, no silent years.

It was then that she looked up and met the eyes of Jesus, silently asking her to come home.