In the television show that is everyone's life, there are people that aren't going to be there for the whole series, maybe just an episode. Maybe an entire season. Look around you. They're people who aren't your closest friends. They're a "work buddy" or the person at the convenience store that you always talk to. Maybe its a friend's roommate.
When you watch television, you quickly assess what you think happens after an episode is over. When a person is only on for a season or so, you assume that the main character still talks to them in the rest of their fictional life, just not the thirty minutes to an hour that you watch a week. But you're probably wrong.
My friend's roomate is a neat guy, and a really interesing person. He has technical knowledge that I am always careful to glean whenever I see him. I have great conversations with him about electronics and religion and morality. Or at least I did.
He'll move tomorrow, back to Washington. It's a good move for him, and if he's smart he'll never come back. Maybe he'll visit. Maybe I'll visit him. But I'd also say there's a good probability that our paths will never cross again. And that just makes me think of all the other guest stars that I've said goodbye to - the ones with their own show.
Appreciate the guest stars that are in your life now, they may be gone soon.
So thanks for covering my wife with a blanket when she fell asleep on the couch while I worked on my motorcycle. Thanks for being smarter than me so I could learn from you. Thanks for thinking I wasn't too stupid to explain. And if I never see you again, have a great life, Matt L.