This Is Goodnight, Not Goodbye

Dedicated to my best friend, Justus, who passed away 4/14/22

Dear Justus,
Poetry brought me to you
And it will always tie us together
The poetry we shared with each other
Will outlive the both of us

But that is only one reason
For why you were my best friend
That is why this is so hard to write
Because I never imagined the end

I should have known how important
You would become to me
After falling in love with your poetry
Which was only one facet
Of your personality 

You were one of the kindest people
I have ever known
And one of the strongest, too
It has been my complete honor
To share moments of laugher
And stories in confidence with you

You were there for me on my darkest days
And my brightest days
Providing unconditional love
We had our fights
But the love was enough
To always forgive each other 

We were tied by our grief initially
Now, I am left to grieve alone
But Justus, you gave me more joy and love
Than you will ever know
So when God called you to be his angel
I understand you had to go

I waited my entire life
To find a friend like you
And now you’ve given me the gift
Of knowing your sister, too 

Justus, you were worth the wait
For the few months I was your friend
And I’ll keep my promise forever to you
That our friendship will never end 

I will miss you every day of my life
I will greet you every morning and every night
Just like I did when you were alive
I will love you for the rest of my life
For all of my days and all of my nights 

Thank you for the gift of your friendship.
I will never forget you.
This is goodbye, but just for a while.
We will see each other again.