November brings out the optimist in me.

I had yet to learn that all human relationships end in pain.
-Douglas H. Gresham

Over the past two years the number of relationships I've been in has grown a lot. Not that kind of relationships, you sillies! *scoffs at you* I mean my relations with other people. My friendships, the people who I know and follow, the numbers have gone up.

(I'm also doing Nano for the second time, so my grammar is shot to pieces. YAY INCOHERENCY.)

This past week I've been realizing that a side effect of having more relationships is seeing those relationships come to an end. And really, there is no way for a human relationship to end painlessly. Either the friendship 1.) grows to an end and shatters- (watch out for emotional shrapnel!) it 2.) withers and just dies (I've yet to see the grave of a relationship without some sort of regret around it) or it 3.) survives until the death of one or more members of the relationship.

Option three sounds like the best one, doesn't it? Maximum happiness. Yes, until the whole death thing. Our culture doesn't talk about death, we like to pretend it doesn't happen. "If I can't see it, it's not there, right? Death is for old people! I'm young!" Since I've been a legal adult, I've had my hiding privileges slowly revoked. There have been a lot of reasons for that, including cancer in the family, and working in a job which means I mainly deal with the over-sixty-five crowd.

"How've ya been?"

"Oh fine, fine. Had a heart attack last week."

"Ah. Wonderful weather we're having, eh?"

But anyways, I had a point to this, didn't I? Ah yes.

Human relationships invariably end in pain. *shrugs* Enjoy'm while they're fresh folks, they don't last.

BUT.

Yes, there is a "but." I may be tired but I'm not THAT depressed. As Christians, we're not simply human. We have a hope for life after death, and our relationship with God does not end.

Ever.

Which to me- caught in a rash of being afraid to go on the internet and see who else is dying/breaking up/having a death in the family/oh, dying/did I mention the specatular prepondernace of DEATH lately- is an encouraging thought.

Yay, I'm only demi-human! Or maybe it's like the ASCAAP/BMI royalty schemes, and there's two hundred-percent pies? Fully Mortal body and fully Immortal soul? This is probably heretical, now. I should stop writing.