Catching up with old friends

Meeting and Passing
By Robert Frost

As I went down the hill along the wall
There was a gate I had leaned at for the view
And had just turned from when I first saw you
As you came up the hill. We met.
But all We did that day was mingle great and small
Footprints in summer dust as if we drew
The figure of our being less than two
But more than one as yet. Your parasol

Pointed the decimal off with one deep thrust.
And all the time we talked you seemed to see
Something down there to smile at in the dust.
(Oh, it was without prejudice to me!)
Afterward I went past what you had passed
Before we met and you what I had passed.

I was just thinking about some old friends that I haven’t talked to in a while, and this poem came to my head. I memorized it when I spent a summer waiting tables at a ranch in Wyoming. At the time it was especially meaningful, knowing that the friends I was making were playing a huge role in my life at the time but I would probably never see them again after that summer.

It’s definitely sad to completely lose touch with friends that seemed so close and important at the time, but it cheers me up to look back on our memories. I still remember the epic spontaneous hikes, almost dying while climbing Middle Teton, stealing brownies from the restaurant, working grueling 16 hour days, all the fun times that I will hopefully never forget about.

I think, all that to say, relationships are fleeting. Not even the strongest of relationships can provide a guarantee that they will always be there. People grow apart, sometimes out of choice, but moreoften just because of circumstances that are out of our control. The most obvious one being, people changing location. That’s probably what makes moving so hard. I know that’s why it was hard for me.

But I don’t think that just because relationships have an end, it means whatever relationships you have now are meaningless. In fact, it’s more the reason to cherish what you have now and appreciate the moment. It’s also a good reminder for me to try to catch up with some old friends.

from ken

Are you trying to change your life? I'd love to hear about it! ken.e.noguchi@gmail.com

photo by pardeshi