there’s nothing worse than when someone you love is missing.
especially when you can see them every day.
maybe you’ve been there at some point in your life. maybe you’re there now.

i think we all have. i’ve known people in my past who were just different than they were before. maybe you have too. maybe that person is even you.

they live, work, play right around you.
but something’s different. they just aren’t themselves.
they are there, but they’re not.
they’ve been replaced by a shadow of who they normally are. distorted, flat, dulled.

i realize that people change, and we can’t expect them to stay the same all the time.
but sometimes life changes the people we care about. sometimes when walking through different situations, they get lost.
they forget who they are.
they forget how to smile.
they forget how to laugh.

and the person that you know and love is there, but they aren’t there.

so you do all you know to do.
you pray.
you encourage.
you challenge.
you worry.
you guide.
you surrender.
you trust.
you hope.
you plead.

all with the belief that someday you will get a glimpse of who they are.
that someday that person will be visible on the horizon.
that someday he or she will return.

maybe a little muddy.
maybe more worn.
maybe with some scars.
but beneath it all, they’re back.

sometimes the missing are found.
sometimes what seemed to have died, is restored.

the prodigals can come back home.
what was lost can be found again.

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image courtesy of flickr.com/creative commons