Thinking of you today
Remembering the long days past
Talking to you over the phone.
You received my words with curiosity and acceptance.
When I moved away for college at 17
And called you with homesickness and loneliness
It was only your voice that could comfort me.
Moving from Idaho to Montana and then to
Wisconsin and finally California
our phone calls continued.
Updates, worries, stresses and hopes
Connecting again and again as
You created a safe spot for me to land.
You asked me, “Will you ever move back to South Dakota
And be near me?”
I said simply, “No. My life
Is in California now”.
I felt it then but surely feel now
The sharp sting of living so far apart and missing you.
Somehow this may have felt like a betrayal to you or rejection.
I clearly see at this moment that each time I left
It created a hole in my heart
And yours too.
And yet we continued to talk on the phone
Each with our hearts torn and stretched but
Undeniably connected and
Tethered together with love and longing.
