See you on the other side, friend.

--

May the road rise to meet you 

May the wind be always at your back 

May the sun shine warm upon your face 

May the good Lord hold you in the palm of His hand 

May the rains fall soft upon your fields, until the day we meet again 

- Irish funeral blessing 

-- 

I’m into a lot of things, but my obsession is relationships. 

I was reading an old letter I sent to some of my friends, my college cross country team. I concluded it with this sentence: 

“For the time that was college, without all of your friendships, I would never have survived the pile of shit that is life. So, thanks. I appreciate every one of you more than I could ever say.” 

And it’s true, I would never have survived college without my running buddies. People weren’t meant to survive on their own. Allow me to break off on a sidenote: 

I’ve been trying to come up with a signature closing to my posts. “from ken” is memorable, but I’ve been wanting something more. One sign off I like is, “may the force be with you.” 

One of my college mentors told me that as I walked into the room to defend my undergrad thesis, and it’s stuck with me since. It implies that there’s something greater than your own powers that could help you, which is comforting. 

But the sign off I’ve been trying for now is, “see you on the other side.” It means several different things to me, but I like it because if you’re reading this blog, you are my friend. And whether or not I will actually see you again, I like to think that I will. 

I learned this phrase from Donald Miller, a Christian author who used it to sign off his book, Searching for God Knows What. This is a book explaining what it means to be Christian, but I’d guess he saw the other side as a place where we’ll be after earth, heaven. 

I’m not exactly sure what I see on the other side. I think it’s a bit like this. 

--

You and I are on one side. There are other people on the other side, but we can’t quite make them out. And for some reason, we’re trying to get to the other side. 

We'll probably have to part ways to get to the other side of the river, and maybe we've already parted.

But my hope is that one day, we would meet again on the other side. 

--

It’s hard to remember the important people that have come and gone through your life. 

Go ahead, imagine an old friend that’s not in your life anymore. 

What I’m saying is, the other side of the river is a place where, at least in your imagination, you could be with that person again. 

You’ll laugh about old times, catch up on your lives, and of course, enjoy the other side. I imagine it like a wedding, there will be goofy dancing, bottles of local Portland beers, and it will be a celebration. 

See you on the other side, 

from ken