Remnants of Familiarity

Welcome to another edition of not-so- Light Fridays.  The words took a different direction, what can you do?

For over almost 10 years, I had a best friend in Dallas.  Whenever we were in the same city, we were inseparable.  We would run errands together, eat out, hang out at each other’s homes.  He was the type of friend that could just pop up unannounced at 8:00 in the morning to see if you wanted to go get breakfast.  Depending on budget, time, and gas, we would go to one of three places- The Waffle House, I-Hop, or the Pancake House.  All of each visited, where at a very specific location in the Dallas area.  We eventually dated one summer.  It was perfect.  It should have been perfect enough for me to move back home to Dallas after my studies in D.C., but it wasn’t.  So I stayed in D.C, and we both fell in love with other people.  And such are the rules of engagement with new girlfriends and old too-close-for-comfort friends, we eventually lost touch.  He got married…one week after I moved back (which I thought was permanently) to Dallas.  It was a tough blow.

Initially upon my move back to Dallas, I thought I would run into him sooner than later.  I still shopped at the same places.  I still dined at the same places we frequented.  I still took all the same routes we used to take.  So I was puzzled when months went by and I never saw him.  Eventually, I forgot about him.  I stopped worrying if our paths would ever cross again.  And after a year of being back in Dallas, I decided it was time to move back to D.C.  I began saving, planning, and praying . I felt there was nothing left in Dallas for me and I was stuck in an unproductive routine.  Work, run, and then home.  Until one day, after work, and after my run I decided to head to Wal-Mart to pick up a few items.  As I begin to turn the corner, I felt his presence close, I look to my right and there he was turned away from me.  All I could get out was “Hey.”  He turned around.  We exchanged the usual pleasantries.  And just like that, I realized that he had long been out of my system.  I felt nothing.  I felt no connection that was there before.  All that was left were the remnants of familiarity.