Opposite sides.

There's just something about looking through old pictures of friends that always brings me overwhelming feelings of sadness and gratefulness. I look at pictures and memories of the moments the pictures were taken come rushing to mind and I feel sad that those moments are over, but also I feel extremely grateful that I was able to have those moments and have something to remind me of it.

This picture, for instance. Even though it's blurry and we all look a little silly, I remember this moment and I remember how much fun that night was and how happy I felt and I am so grateful for these friends. I miss them more than I can put into words when I'm looking at this picture and I wish I could be with them. But I can look at this picture and feel so blessed that I can call these people my friends.

I made the decision to leave the place where these friends are and when looking at this picture and thinking about how much I love them, it is really difficult to not regret my decision to leave. At the time, it seemed like the right thing to do. And maybe it was. I don't know if I can ever be sure of that. But in this moment, all I know is that those people are great people and anyone would be lucky to have them as friends and I so very lucky to know them. I can only hope that these friendships last no matter where we go in life.

I've learned that life is very unpredictable and it will take us to places we never dreamed of going and sometimes those places will be far from the people we care about. And frankly, that just sucks. But real friendships will last no matter where we end up. And right now, that's enough to keep me going. Knowing that I have people like that I can still call my friends even though we live on opposite sides of the country.