Friendship and leaving.

Finally, today it hit me. The sadness. The nostalgia before leaving a place. The feeling that people are so beautiful. Their humor, the way they laugh, the way they think, the things they like and enjoy, the way a group of friends enjoy or tease each other and laugh and spend time together. It's so beautiful, so heart-warming. I missed this. I thought I wouldn't have friends that I'd really miss here, but I do.

The theme of the last semester/year has been: friendship. God has showed me what friendship looks like again. It's been a while since I felt that people were so beautiful. I have a handful of MBA friends, a handful of Church friends and a suite-mate I'll really miss. Maybe miss isn't the right word/feeling. It's a feeling of great warmth when I think about them and who they are.

I used to be so concerned with keeping up with people, and yes I think it is still important--even simple short sweet emails or texts or something. But it's not that big of a deal. Friends are always friends forever, as in you'll be glad to see each other whenever you do. And local friends will always be the ones who have the weight of responsibility of helping you out when you need a physical presence. Family and special friends might cross the boundaries of distance, but that's how I generally see it now.

I remember in high school, I was pretty cynical about the concept of "leaving", and felt that when one person moves away, there is always one party that "forgets" the other party first and moves on more quickly. And I perceived myself as the party that generally moves on slower or has greater 'depth of affection' or whatever, but I think I was just being overly dramatic. My heart has grown stronger since high school and more mature.

Well, there's still 8-9 days left, so I plan to enjoy it as much as possible. And for the record, God is the most beautiful. Everything that I experience now makes me love Him all the more--it's amazing how each person is so different and still so beautiful. Even with all our hurts and brokenness, I can see the beauty.