Alas, J-Boy started at a new school this year, and I've been so caught up in evaluating how he is managing the change, adapting to the new program, and reveling in the excitment of how successful he has been that I completely forgot about a part of my life left behind.
Life has its twists and turns, and relationships that were once kept strong by a common orbiting force can quickly become a part of the past, irrelevant to your current reality, your day-to-day comings and goings.
And then I saw her, unexpectedly, outside of that circle that bound us.
It was weird seeing her like that, out shopping in a rural town way out in the middle of nowhere. I could feel her eyes burn into me with recognition. I felt I had no choice but to go up to her and say hello.
The awkwardness was palpable. She made no effort to shed any warmth or feign social niceties. She said that she had heard through the grapevine that J-Boy was transferring to another school, then bitterly stared into the distance as she spat seethingly about "the uncaring nature of SOME people who don't bother to keep in touch but let strangers be the bearers of news." I knew then that she had hardened in a way that I would never be able to break through.
I was in the old neighborhood recently. I drove by her house knowing I'd see her. I thought about stopping in, but I knew it would be no use. Our lives had headed in separate directions and this, this madness, for me, was over.
