Photo: Garry Knight

As we age, we develop relationships that become so integral to our being that any transformation in them has a substantial effect on our own lives. These relationships take us on a journey of friendship, love, sacrifice, devotion, loyalty and beliefs.

While we anticipate that life changes for our friends and family will inevitably occur, to actually be in the midst of it, is an astounding feat of absorbing, reconciling and adjusting to a gamut of emotions and recognitions.

“Change is the only constant in life.” We are all privy to this notion and have felt the effects that life phases have reverberated through our system, ranging from birth to death. Some we anticipate and believe that when they occur, we will just assimilate them accordingly. And yet, some others bring us to our knees.

The anticipation of a life-altering event includes all the emotions we allow ourselves to feel, yet the intensity of it can be more in the direction of anxiety. We are not yet focused or are able to firmly feel the gravity of it until we our fully engrossed in the midst of the event playing out.

As we roll around in the cloud of changes that our close ones are going through, we are simultaneously rearranging our own thought patterns, evolving our emotional state and adjusting to new scenarios and surroundings. And it doesn’t just end there. Once you’re able to ‘take it all in’, you come to the startling recognition that your own life is speeding ahead, whether you like it or not. The factors that may have kept you at bay with your own decisions are now coming full force in your face. Your reflection in the mirror now stares back telling you, ‘Time to haul ass my friend.”

As we embark on the beautiful roller coaster that is life and embrace the people that make it fulfilling, we come to terms that their happiness translates into yours. There is a deep bond that connects you on a level that supersedes selfishness and helps you unfold as a person. Changes that occur in their lives simultaneously take you on their journey and move you along yours. To be a part of a bond such as this is a privilege. To be loved wholeheartedly by such people is an honor and to grow with them is a pathway to your own destiny.

Dedicated to the handful of folks whose embrace, I call home.