Every Time We Meet

[Lawyers love lists, a smart lawyer-to-be once told me. So...]

[Every time we meet, there's an awkward shyness that reminds me of nothing we experienced when we were together, including that first day.]

[Every time we meet, there's an undercurrent of sadness, anger, and confusion.]

[Every time we meet, we fall quickly into the language we only speak together. So many shared experiences and points of reference, there's no way we could have a conversation without layers of memory forming our vocabulary, syntax, narrative shape.]

[Every time we meet, news of physical health, good or bad, immediately strips away all the other crap and we enter that place where concern for each other's well-being is the only thing. Can you believe we've managed to keep that after everything else?]

[Every time we meet, we either help each other or hurt each other.]

[Every time we meet, I wonder why, while being simultaneously certain there was no other way.]

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