James is Home

My nephew James is home (Washington, DC) just this morning from a tour of duty in Yemen (State Dept. Security).  Tomorrow he will be with his parents in Hilton Head.  This brings so many emotions to the surface I must write about it.  Why is it that we feel lost when loved ones are unavailable? Not only lost, but consumed with concern, worry, or perhaps fear and anxiety.  Our love expresses itself in concern.  Discomfort at least.  We need to SEE each other.  We need to touch each other - a hug, a smile, a kiss - some physical action that acknowledges presence and exhibits our caring.  And when we can't do that, we are unhappy.  We feel out of control and yearn to satisfy the urge for contact - at least visual.  Skype is a remedy but not a totally satisfying one.   We want the actual physical feeling of being "in their space."  Or, having them "in our space."  And, of course, the distress is exacerbated by the loved one being in some place of danger.  Particularly, I think, when the danger is not clearly defined, which leaves us in a state of anxious wondering.  .......Perhaps the rain today is dampening my spirits a bit - and causing me to ponder personal relationships more deeply.  ..........There is a mist rolling across the surface of the Pond while the rain is coming down making millions of tiny circles on the surface.  Circles.  Reminding me of the closing of a time of absence, a coming together.  Oh, JOY!  James is safe at home!