we go way back, the two of us

seems like just yesterday

we were dancing hand in hand

faces red and gasping for breath

in between bouts of laughter;

it was a happiness i'd never felt before - a feeling of 'this is perfect'

i wish that feeling would last forever but

everything

everyone

dies one day.

so this, you could say, is a last goodbye.

for a long time, they were my everything.

they were my sword, my shield

my roots, my wings

i remember i used to play on the swings

and they were the hand behind me, pushing me, making me soar

they were the scrape of the rusty metal chains against my snow-soft hands,

and they were the electricity in my hands making me hold on anyway

their gentle whispers, tinted rose with a honeyed glow of innocence

still echo in my ears

those were halcyon days - days i'd give anything to get back.

i'll miss them for the feeling of uninhibited freedom they gave me:

this little protective blanket that i still have my whole life ahead of me

drizzled with peals of ever fresh giggles and toothy smiles as they were, the times i shared with them may just have been the times of my life.

i could do anything and everything

be whoever i wanted to be

i could probably even have flied if i wanted to

because of their tender grasp that brought me to the skies

i'll miss them

i really will

but i guess what's reassuring is that they're never really dead

they're just still, dormant

existent in a corner of our heart, not saying a word because they know we've moved past them

but they'll always be there for us

and the best thing we can do to keep them there and alive is

remember

remember them

remember the golden hours in the sun, the cold rain on ruddy cheeks, the smell of crisp spring air, the sound of us playing, the sight of the roses we used to grow

keep those memories close

they'll be even closer

i'm so grateful for you, and i'll miss you.

i'll always remember

in loving memory of

our childhood