by Edna Wallace, LMFT

A simple thing—
“hello,” “good morning,”
“how are you?”
No effort at all,
this greeting,
this recognition of another.

But you notice its absence—
people passing
without a smile,
a nod,
the murmur of “hello”.

How it is with friends—
so different!
There it’s the hug,
the squeeze,
the holding on
just a little bit longer.
You feel gladness in the
skip of your heart.
You draw back,
both of you,
exclaiming—
“It’s so good to see you!”
And it’s so true.

In France,
they approach close,
kissing both cheeks—
a greeting
deliciously intimate.

It isn’t that you
can’t live
without your friends.
You can…
but it’s emptier.

It’s the remembrance
of that connection
between you
when you see each other;
the visceral feel
of that precious other,
of your history,
your ties.

A hug says it all.
In that moment,
that is all you need.

Edna Wallace, LMFT, is a long-time therapist at El Camino Hospital working in the Adult Mood Program for Depression and Anxiety and the OATS program for older adults. She has a private practice in Los Altos. She worked for a decade on the Luncheon Committee for SCV-CAMFT and has been a luncheon presenter as well. Edna is an avid writer in her spare time.

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