Dedication To "These People"

“Just as we demarcate life by certain events, so too we come to realize that we have unknowingly categorized the people we have met throughout the course of our life. People come into our lives by various means. There are 'Those' we come to know as acquaintances; we meet them at school, work, or a myriad of other social settings. While we may have had good experiences with Those people, we built few lasting memories. Whether their presence in our life was short, or long , we never came to have a meaningful or deep conversation concerning ourselves or our true feelings. For some reason we always seemed to look for the differences between them and ourselves. With Those people there will always be an air of formality or unconditional indifference. As a result, we often look back at Those people and realize that they were just mere extras on the grand stage of life. We realize that this does not diminish their importance as people or individuals, for no Set would be complete without them. Should we ever encounter them again in the future we will be cordial, but we may struggle to remember their name or anything tangible about them. For the simple fact remains, Those people will forever remain strangers.

And then there are 'These'. We met These people in the same fashion as we met those others. But These people were different for reasons we cannot fully explain. There was something about them that we were drawn to. We looked for the similarities that form a common bond. In their presence we felt a sense of security that enabled us to loosen the reins of formality. These people were eventually given free admission into the deepest recesses of our thoughts and feelings. This allowed us to see sides of each other– both the good and the bad, reserved but for only a few. As this relationship grew and deepened we learned to communicate sometimes without words, choosing instead to convey via another channel; the heart. This was often accomplished by simple means; a mere glance.

Indeed, when we look back we may find that we never said ‘I love you’, but only because the need was ever manifest; we always just knew. Yes, we came to have a genuine love and care for These people much like our own family. While their tenure in our life may have been short or long, we never judged the quality of the relationship by its duration. In fact, we do not believe it to be an accident that These people came into our lives at any given time; they have been granted a leading part on our life’s grand stage by the Ultimate Director – God, for these people fulfilled a role that no one else could.

These people will part our lives as those others have, but not without difference. For if life makes us part under any circumstance, including the ultimate separation-death, we will always know that as long as one lives so too does our endearing friendship. For love, like time, has no boundary. In the event that we are afforded the opportunity to meet again, we at once pick up where we left off, filling in the gaps without formality or constraint. For these people have already seen us at our very worst and yet still love us for our very best. These people represent one inescapable fact; they were and are our dearest and truest friends. With these people we can never be strangers again.”

A page from, Of Rage and Silence, by Timothy Lee.