Reminds me of that friend I spent every day in elementary school with including after school and on sleep overs and running around town all summer long every season from the time we were in preschool … then finally saying goodbye one summer evening when we were 12, not knowing that we would never be together as friends again in the same way.
That makes me think of the ending of Stand By Me if you’ve seen it. Heart wrenching.
It is what I was thinking about … I never noticed it when I first saw the movie when I was younger … but as I got older, I realized I did have that one last evening or afternoon when I just said something like ‘bye’ or ‘see you later’ like it was another normal day and we both didn’t realize it was the last time we said goodbye to each other as best childhood friends.
We continued to live in the same town but we both went to different high schools later. I skipped a grade, he stayed back, I went to high school earlier, we both went different ways, different group of friends and basically different lives. We still saw each other once in a while but we never acknowledged each other in the same way ever again. Every time we saw each other, it felt like meeting that long lost cousin or half brother that you have to say hello to but don’t really know. One of the saddest things I think about often now. I went off to see the world, worked, travelled lots, lived life with my wife but we never had kids … he went off with a girl from town, they had several kids, he worked steady for a while but then went deep in alcoholism and later drugs and now he is a shadow of the person I knew.
The ending of ‘Stand By Me’ is gut wrenching because once you get old enough, you realize just how gut wrenching it all is because we’ve all experienced it.
That is indeed a sad story that we’ve all experienced but much sadder considering how his life turned out. I hope he gets better.
