Goodbye

How do I say goodbye?
You were always there, since I was born. 
Always one step ahead.
You tasted life first; you paved the way. 
When you were running, I was walking. 
And I was always trying to catch up with you.
We lived our lives in parallel. 
Opposite, yet somehow alike.                                                                                                     Loud, quiet; introverted.
Tall and strong, small and timid; tenderhearted.
We were on the young end of the seesaw.                                                                                  The older, more empowered; the middle, the fulcrum; the younger, the followers.
You carved out the space in the music for my harmony.                                                              Violin and piano strings vibrated together; violin gave way to guitar.
We journeyed the teen years together. 
Our circle of friends was one.
Many a day it was, driving to school;
many a night, jamming and partying.
Then spouses and kids, jobs and chores, we grew apart.
But you were always there, just a few miles away, you who had occupied the place of newness just before me.
And a soft spot in a mother’s heart.
Another to be added to the unbroken circle, a piece gone here but added There.
Breaking hearts here, healing hearts There.
A painful gulf of separation in this plane; a joyous reunion in that realm.

How do I say goodbye?                                                                                                                          Not goodbye, but adieu, go with God;                                                                                                au revoir, until I see you, and I join the circle too.                                                               Wishes of peaceful days and painfree nights.
Love rides on an angel’s wing to place unknown.
Messages to those gone before… the circle opens…
and brothers embrace.
Your golden guitar awaits.