A Distance, But Not Long

I have a good friend who moved away several months ago.  As much as I hated to see her move away, I was happy that she would be closer to family.  We had known each other through our work and even more so through our church.  She is an elegant, gracious, intelligent lady who brought dignity and loveliness to every setting in which I had the pleasure to be with her.  Since her departure, we've been calling each other just to catch up on life.  Although the physical distance between us is long, it doesn't feel that way, thanks to our catch-up calls.  While it's fine to send a letter or an email, there is still nothing like hearing the other person's voice and sharing laughter from a funny story or even silence from sharing a sorrow.  Talking with her reminds me of the years during my childhood when my late father would be lecturing in schools in some faraway state.  It meant so much to talk with him during his Friday night phone calls to Mom and me. Although Dad was often in a different time zone and a thousand miles away, the act of catching up on the week's happenings was all it took to feel as if we were together again. And so it is with my lovely friend whose life has moved on, but whose calls keep us together.