It's hard to know what it'll feel like to miss someone when you're still with them. You think it's going to be a big display of endless tears and hugs, but then you'll go on your way and forget about it in a couple days. Maybe you'll exchange a long recitation of how much you're going to miss the person, poetically expressing your feelings like a seasoned author. Maybe you'll keep in touch, maybe you won't.

But I've realized it's never what you expect.

There may not be any tears or they may be very few. You may even feel guilty for not crying, or even relieved, thinking you might not be as sad because of this. The hugs are always real and it's in these hugs that you really start to feel that missing feeling, knowing it'll be a long time before you'll see this person again, or maybe you won't. It's short and sweet words you manage to squeak out in between hugs. Nothing poetic, just a simple, "I'm really going to miss you!" Then you eventually have to break apart and leave. Maybe that night is a bit melancholy, but you're still high on the energy of having a fun day with them. It hasn't kicked in yet.

Then the first day comes. It seems weird how something could be all over in just a night. It's weird how you have no more plans with this person and you're not going to see them at a definite time and place. Maybe you text one another, if you were in contact like that, but slowly that dies down and you find you have less and less to talk about. You don't want to be a bother, so you cool things, only texting when you really find something they may find interesting or you have a question or a memory to share with them.

Then the second day comes, the third, the fourth. A week passes. And you know that if you knew you were going to feel this way now, you would've bawled like a baby when you first parted ways with that person. I don't know why that feeling of emptiness and tugging on your heart is still there. It hurts to know that you won't see them for a long time or maybe you won't ever see them again. It also hurts to know that the relationship was more one-sided than you thought. Texts go unread and suddenly you feel like a bother. There will come the time where you no longer text them and you probably will let the friendship go. That time might have already come.

But you'll meet more people. You can't stay feeling this way for long. You'll do more things, make new friends, and maybe go through this process all over again. At least you have some times when you reconnect with the ones you miss, and that always brings back memories of being with them in person and all the good times you shared.

I don't think you'll forget them, at least not completely. You can't throw the good memories away. You sometimes find yourself daydreaming about seeing them again, and know that this might happen but might not. Either way, you wouldn't trade the friendship and the good memories you had.

This is dedicated to a couple special people that I miss right now. I didn't forget you, and I hope you didn't forget me either. Either way, thanks for the good times, for the friendship, and for making that time in my life special. This one's for you.