Those are formidable emotions, how we think of, feel about, react to, long for, remember those whom we love. They are attachments that run deep into the very core of our being. They are feelings that no amount of space and time can interfere with. Those for whom our love runs so deep, despite a physical absence, are with us every moment of our day. They linger deep within our thoughts.

And when a visit, however brief is imminent, the emotional shock of anticipating being with them physically can be overwhelming in its reality that we will be given the opportunity, so often repeated and never often enough, to hug them, kiss them, speak directly face to face setting aside arbitrary distance for a treasured period of time that the trip consists of.

The natural rhythm of being together, of casual connection linking to the inexhaustible bank of memory initiates another round of experiences together that will linger deep in the subconscious as new memories are formed and they too will aggregate along with the earlier ones dating back to the very consciousness of being.

When the visit is over it threatens emotional equilibrium. Your thoughts, day after day, have informed you that one day of the visit is over, the next starts, until you reach the point where your discussion with yourself informs you that two days are left, one day, and finally the day of departure. Each of you has your own life to lead, and as fate and fortune have it, you lead them separately.

The act of greeting is one of full-blossomed joy, the act of parting is a labour of grudging necessity. the acting out of which is performed in full reversal. You hug, you proclaim softly how much it meant to you to be together. You wish the other a good trip, assuring that you will, as always, keep in touch through other mediums, at a distance.

And finally, you watch as the one your life is inextricably linked with walks away, backpack riding high, turns into the airport and disappears.