For Ash

There are times when there are no words, and maybe this is one of those times I just shouldn't try, but these are the words that came, so here they are. Love you, Ash!

You’d think the goodbyes would be easy by now
Cause this has been their touchtone year
So many curtains gone down, so many exits made
You’d think I’d know how to handle the fact
That somewhere you’re driving with a half tank of gas
Your car all packed up and you’re not looking back
And you shouldn’t, I confess.
You’re doing what few are brave enough to do
To “put life on pause,” you said
How I wish I had your wisdom, your seeming fearlessness!
But what’s right now takes you so far away
So removed from Starbucks on urban street corners
From late night talks in a dim-lit living room
And dark frisbee fields on crisp autumn nights
Improvised guacamole and campaigns.
Not being there to see you drive away
Makes me feel like you’re not gone at all,
As if a heart’s sister can ever leave;
Yet I fear that time and distance will take their toll
For they always seem to make their presence known.
Maybe it’ll just take me a while to believe that you’re gone
And it will take a continent to bring you back
But someday, whether over well-traveled roads
Or a ride on a plane, you will return.
I don’t know what to wish you, except for all His best,
And hoping He will reveal that your home is ultimately
Not in any earthly sphere, not on either coast,
But in Him. And perhaps in time,
Your journey will bring you alongside mine once again
And my heart can once again rejoice
In the presence of a friend beyond measure.