The Road Goes Ever On and On

Everyone has a path they must follow. Whether this is the path we choose or the path we are given is not for us to say. But we are each on our own path.

We walk our path in darkness and in light, when it is easy and when it is hard. And we walk alone. No one may walk our path but us. But the paths do come together.

For better or worse, our paths cross the paths of others. We come together for a time, and we share our experiences along that piece of the road. Sometimes the paths converge for too short a time, and sometimes it seems the paths will never part again.

No matter how long or how short a time these paths are together, something changes. For the time we walk our paths together, we share a common experience, and that forms a bond. Even after our paths have parted, that bond remains. No matter where your path takes you, whether we meet again or not, we will always have this bond between us.

During my time here in Italy I have crossed paths with many different people. In what feels like too short a time, our paths will take us all far from one-another. I fear that our paths may never cross again, but those I have walked with these five months have shared a very important experience with me. An experience I can never forget. An experience I do not want to forget.

During this experience, this painful, long, difficult, beautiful experience, I have bonded with these people. Even if our paths never cross again, I will not forget them. I can not forget them. I have laughed with, fought with, struggled with, cried with these people. And now I cry for them. I cry because I fear we shall never meet again.

But who truly knows? True, it's a long way from Italy to Costa Rica, or the U.S. to Germany, but the road is long, and no one can see the end. In the dark of the night, you cannot see the path beneath your feet, but still you follow it. You may not know where it will lead you, and can never turn back to what you know, but just because something is in the past, that does not mean it is forgotten.

I will carry the things I've experienced and the people I've met for the rest of my life. To forget even one of them would be a disservice and an insult to the people who have helped me through this wonderfully difficult part of my life.

"Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But because I knew you, I have been changed For Good." - Wicked

Vi voglio troppo bene....
~ A Dreamer