So long, farewell ...

Waxing and waning of emotions has always been very typical of me. Its probably something I got from my mom - the most loving, sensitive and selfless person I have ever known. She is prone to the odd outburst of tenderness and overwhelming melancholy that seems to have taken a hold of me of late. But that's what makes her human. You love people for their idiosyncrasies, and this is just one of them.

I remember going through a similar time a couple of years back. I was away from home for a while and met some people I could never forget. But it was only a short vigil, and that made the farewell more heart wrenching. A feeling that there was so much left undone - a sudden realization that I might never see them again - these beautiful, caring, loving people with whom I spent a few important months of my life; who made time fly past with bursts of infectious, endearing madness; who lent a patient ear to anything you might have to say; and who came to say goodbye and left you watching through a blur as they faded away into the distance.

They say that life moves on. After the first few days of heartache, the recuperative powers of the mind finds ways to get around it. But does it really ? A stray snippet of conversation, a familiar corridor, a long-forgotten tune, can all reawaken a precious memory stowed away in the dark closets of the mind and bring it rushing back into focus.

Sometimes I am terrified by the prospect of coming face-to-face with someone I knew and turning away without a flicker of recognition. But some part of me says that it will surely not be someone who really mattered to me. Even if it was for only a few months.