In dedication to my fairweather friend… 

We were once so close. We believed we’d be friends until we were crazy old ladies. That was before you were diagnosed with Lyme Disease - which you never talked about. Over the years, you grew more & more distant - more & more confused and overly reliant on a false sense of security. Sometimes it can be healthy to put the past behind you, but was it really the right decision? Had you known no fear, you might have gone on to become a larger-than-life version of what you think you are today. You were once brilliant, beautiful, dark, fearless, and riddled with insane imagination. 

Today, you are obsessed with material things, always concerned about the way you look, always looking for a social drinking scene, and you drive an SUV.

I heard you’re back in the conservation corps. Good for you. Moving backwards just might bring you back to where you were before you joined that machine.

What happened to you? Will you ever return? I’m sitting here in Texas, in the wide open grassy light of the green sun pouring in through the leaves while the river sings our song.

I found out that the severe pain I was going through when you turned your back on me was, indeed, late stage Lyme Disease. I was several years into it, but never knew until it was too late. The damage is done.

Why didn’t you suspect it? And why - when I told you what it was - did you turn your back on me once more?

Will the day ever come when you come down from that giant crane you’ve found and remember what life was like by the stream? We sang songs with Mr. Dungummit and never stopped dreaming.

You will remain in my heart as I grieve for the loss that was once the most beautiful and magical girl I ever knew.  

—

Song: Fairweather Friend | Artist: Vanessa Carlton