{"id":3446,"date":"2018-03-22T08:09:47","date_gmt":"2018-03-22T15:09:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/?p=3446"},"modified":"2018-03-22T08:09:47","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T15:09:47","slug":"letter-to-an-old-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jonandlayne.com\/letter-to-an-old-friend\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to an old friend"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Jon Post<\/u><\/i><\/p>\n
I see you standing there in the corner of the room. I\u2019ve been noticing you more and more these days. Yesterday, you didn\u2019t come around until late afternoon, but I noticed you looking over my shoulder as I played the guitar.<\/p>\n
You are welcome here, old friend.<\/p>\n
Yes, some days I tell you to leave us alone. To wait days, months, years. Some nights your presence is unwelcome as it is unavoidable.<\/p>\n
But today,<\/p>\n
Old friend,<\/p>\n
You are welcome here in this room.<\/p>\n
I saw you peek around my arm as I changed sheets, waiting to see if he would forget.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n I wondered myself.<\/p>\n But then he remembered and his chest rose and fell and you moved a bit further back and kept waiting.<\/p>\n You are welcome here, old friend.<\/p>\n I saw your hand resting on his leg as I lifted both and moved him to a more comfortable position (Yes, I know that you already touched that one many days ago). I did not bat it away as I would have with another friend here in my home.<\/p>\n Today,<\/p>\n You are welcome here, old friend.<\/p>\n He\u2019s so tired.<\/p>\n Are you? Do you get tired of coming to my house? Waiting for another friend of mine to forget? Watching to see if their chests will keep heaving back against the invitation you keep offering?<\/p>\n Are you a good dancer?<\/p>\n I bet you are.<\/p>\n I bet that\u2019s one of the first things most of my friends want to do when you help them stand up. Maybe that\u2019s why people have written so many times about \u201cdancing with\u2026\u201d you.<\/p>\n Anyway, I bet you\u2019re a good dancer.<\/p>\n My friend here has tried so many times to simply put his weight on his frail bones. What I would give to know his smile when he doesn\u2019t need to worry about that. Do my friends often smile when you help them stand? Do they often laugh when you dance?<\/p>\n