Dear Friend, I Miss You When

Dear friend, I miss you when I

• Drive past the highway exit that leads to your house
• Read a book and wonder if you'd like it, if you've read it, what you thought about it
• Wonder if you figured out all the allergies and health things you were struggling with
• See that the magic hour light is perfect and wonder if you are taking beautiful pictures in it
• Read about neurodivergence and rejection sensitive dysphoria and remember the feeling of walking on eggshells
• Come across education discussions and wonder what you think
• Walk past a garden that makes me think of your yard and all the work you've done
• See a Facebook memory we made
• Pass the Thai restaurant I introduced you to that you used to love and wonder if you still do
• Visit your son's grave, hoping I'll remember where it is in the cemetery, hoping the plastic-protected picture will still be clear enough to find
• Talk to my pain psychologist and try to figure out if I could have done something differently
• See a roof under construction and can't remember if your roof was finished the last time we met
• Find a funny meme I wonder if you would like
• See an event you might be interested in
• Wonder how far along you are in your book and where it has taken the protagonist
• Realize another month has passed with no response and wonder if you'll never talk or write to me again because I wasn't perfect enough to be a friend who didn't need anything