Same lesson, different day.

As the time approaches for my friend to leave, I have the conversation with myself that I have when people go: Life is impermanent. Change is the only constant. This person will return, in whatever role is appropriate. You will continue with life and be strong. You have been given many gifts. You have shared good things.

Now, don't think I'm despondent; I'm not. All things expressed tonight are just fleeting thoughts, that I examine and set aside. I can't keep them from surfacing, but I can send them to their rightful place in Nowhere.

I find big transitions to weigh heavily on me for a time before I can get busy again and assign them to the back burner. This next week is a school break, and I have time to myself, which always makes it hard not to brood.

Sometimes I can fill up the time, keep busy, and that helps. Sometimes I hibernate with a number of good books, and that doesn't help, but it's a decent way to pass melancholy time. I rev back up in a while, pressing on with my goals and my work.

I will miss him. He will be safe. And he will return.