Bond

You can compare losing a friend to losing a lover

but you cannot compare losing a friend to losing a sister

or brother

or dad or mom

because when you lose a friend they're still there a little

but because you are bonded to a sister

or you're bonded to a mother

the only way to lose them

is through death

and unlike losing a friend over a fight

or a lover over the same

where you can call them up and apologize

you can't ever call your dead brother up to say

"I'm sorry I yelled cuss words at you"

to make him come back

as tears run down your cheeks

because you know that that phone call

was just as hopeless as the chances of him coming back are.

You can't call up your deceased grandmother to say

"I'm sorry I didn't like your asparagus"

to make her smile at you and say it's okay

as your face flushes

and you realize you have only imagined a phone conversation

because you never did call

when she said she missed you

and she barely saw you

and she loved you more than life itself

because she was bonded to you

with a knot that was impossible to untie;

a knot that linked you two together;

a knot that you and your brother shared;

and your sister;

and your mother;

and your father;

that could not be untied until death might untie it

because unlike a lover

you have to love your family

and it's that much harder to think of loving them

because you could lose them

because in this world we live in

our lives can be taken and broken

with the pull of a trigger

or the swing of a knife

or the swerve of a steering wheel

or the hatred of a person;

and one family is all we have

and there are plenty of fish in the sea

when it comes to losing lovers or friends

so the loss of family is the loss that hurts the most

because you know

there will never be another family like yours.