Lately, I've almost been afraid to fall asleep because when I do, I either see people who I have cut off contact with, or people who I miss dearly and live 1000 miles away. I don't fear so much seeing the people I miss, because at least in my dreams I get to spend some time with them.
No, the problem is seeing people, or in this case 1 person with whom I have cutoff contact.
Imagine a past relationship as a gaping knife wound. you cover the wound with salve and bandages and take antibiotics for possible infection. You keep the wound covered, you don't rip off the bandage every few minutes to see if it's healing. After awhile, the wound begins to heal, you remove the bandage because it's no longer needed, and the scar begins to heal, and you don't feel the deep penetrating pain that used to be a part of you. But imagine after the wound is healed if then you get stabbed in the same place everyday, and you have to start the healing process all over again.
This is what it's like when I dream of or am reminded of said person....we'll call her Bertha.
In my dream, we are besties again, and none of the bad stuff between us ever happened. More than anything, when I wake up I am angry. Angry that I still have thoughts of her, and that she still has a role in my thoughts and dreams. I need some bleach for my brain to scour my thoughts and memories to clean away any trace of her.
I have distanced myself from Bertha in every way I know how. Blocked on my phone, blocked on Facebook and Instagram, I burned, literally started on fire everything she ever gave me and every letter she wrote to me, and my favorite shirt that she gave me.
All these things have been therapeutic but it's not enough. it doesn't take away the memories we had together or all the times she made me laugh so hard I cried. It doesn't take away the feelings I've had about how she treated with reckless abandon our 10 years of friendship, and how a lot of the blame was put on me, leaving her spotless.
I would be naive to think that I didn't have any part in the process, but I have endlessly racked my brain on the things that I could have done better, and what more I could have said, and how many more chances I could have given her. In reality, if she were to find some way to contact me, and beg to be friends again, I would give have to give pause before I slammed the door.
I am starting to think that these thoughts will never go away, and honestly I am the person I am today partly because of our friendship. I went on a mission because she got me thinking about it, and I thought about things on a deeper level because of our late night chats. I enjoyed Snow College that much more because of her. But I have grown, and faced my demons without her. I thought that I couldn't survive without my best friend, but I did. I not only survived, but I have thrived in Grad school, and in life without her, in spite of her. I might always have a hole from where she used to be but I focus on the people in my life who didn't leave me behind.
And Now, a poem:
Yours Truly
You’re in my dreams
but I wish you’d go.
I’d cut open my brain
just to let you out the door.
I’ve moved on in life
and I’m happy with you gone
But when I close my
eyes, my time with you isn’t done
You riddle my nights,
which ruins my days
I’m sick of thinking
about all the ways
I disappointed you,
what more could I have done
Should I have kept
quiet, should I have held my tongue?
I’m mad that you
still take space in my brain
You are the conductor
of the thought train
I burned everything
you gave me, blocked you from my phone
But in my brain you
still roam
You’ve built yourself
a two-story house in my head
Consider this your
eviction notice
Take your crap and
get out of my mind
For you this is the
end of the line
The wall is up with
razor wire and a chain around my brain
Don’t expect to be
treated kindly if you ride in on the thought train
Let me move on, let
me be okay without you
You made your
decision, now let me make mine