Indelible

Not everyone who walks into your life is meant to stay forever. This is a concept that has always been difficult for me to reconcile with. Somehow, my mind has been programmed to hold on, to make relationships work no matter what. Maybe I’m afraid of changes, of loss and most importantly, of being forgotten.

The thing is, the ones who are meant to stay, always will. Absence is supposed to make the heart grow fonder, but every time I visit my hometown and reunite with the people I love the most, the thought that I must leave them again too soon fills me with dread. Will my absence make them grow fonder of me or will they just move on and forget, our good times just a faded memory? More importantly, will I forget THEM? Will things be the same when I return a year or more later? I've always been the out of sight, out of mind type and so I worry, when I never should, because some things never change and never will, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

In the time between these unforgettable reunions though, there are so many new faces, some there to stay, some just leaving a mark on my life that transforms it for good. And these people are just as important, if not more at times, than the forevers. There comes a person so suddenly, with absolutely no warning, and they turn out to be exactly who you need in that phase of your life.

So here’s to them all. The ones who feel like home no matter how many years have passed; the ones who help you without even realizing how much you need it; the ones who push you to be more than you thought yourself capable of; the ones who sing your favourite songs with you at the top of their voices in the car, the ones who bring out your wild side, the ones who have given you perfect nights, the ones who lift your spirits with just their presence, the ones you try new foods with, the ones who make you forget everything else for a while, the ones who have such good hearts that they make you want to be a better person too, the ones who love you no matter what, the ones that are with you only for a short time and the ones who will stay forever.

Thank you.

My life would not have been the same, would not have been this great, without a single one of you.