To Julie,

To Julie,
Love and friendship endureth

Beyond the thousand miles
beyond the span of years
I carry you, always, in my heart.
You were my friend then
and my friend now.
If we sit – we reminisce
snapshots of laughter, black and whites that take us back.
Remember when’s,
of parties, work incidents and accidents,
colleagues shared, the netball games, played and
umpired. The triumphs, the great moments.
We gloss over the hard times
when each supported the other
through family tiffs and tatts
through losses and bad days.
Just as we both do now.
Our lost children are not gone from us,
though dead and underground.
We carry them in our hearts.
We loved them then as we love them now
if not more.
For in our reminisces – our ‘remember when’s’
they are not shaded with the bad days .
But coloured with all the brightness of lives lived
short.
And when we meet again,
Two mothers whose children are underground
We will smile, again, our wonky smiles
Put on, again, some brightness, some lighntess
and reminisce of days gone by
and even if one of us offers the space
we will share our loss and pain,
but not TOO much.
For we both know
as much as we have this common grief
our pain is too great
For another to ever have to share.