On the Marriage of Friends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This past weekend afforded me the chance to celebrate marriage with numerous friends who gathered for the ceremony bonding my friend Adam with his bride.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2005\/07\/on-the-marriage-of-friends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On the Marriage of Friends\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This past weekend afforded me the chance to celebrate marriage with numerous friends who gathered for the ceremony bonding my friend Adam with his bride.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2005\/07\/on-the-marriage-of-friends\/\" \/>\n<meta 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{"id":54,"date":"2005-07-25T03:07:00","date_gmt":"2005-07-25T03:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owenstrachan.wordpress.com\/2005\/07\/25\/on-the-marriage-of-friends\/"},"modified":"2005-07-25T03:07:00","modified_gmt":"2005-07-25T03:07:00","slug":"on-the-marriage-of-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2005\/07\/on-the-marriage-of-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"On the Marriage of Friends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It\u2019s the cessation of the sharing of life\u2019s small processes that make the most impact, I think. After all, the living of life is mostly tucked away in odd moments here and there, with the brushing of teeth, the washing of dishes, the goofy hour of needed procrastination on the couch. It\u2019s in watching silly movies with your buddies, eating slice-and-bake cookies almost too good to be true, sharing heartache when you really should be sleeping. Saturday night, standing in the communal bathroom, I thought of how I\u2019d never again chat with my friend over toothpaste and water. My mind shifted to the kitchen, where we\u2019ve had so many meaningful conversations while cooking yet another pasta-and-sauce meal. My tour continued to the room where we studied together for hour upon hour this past semester, sharing jokes, listening to Mat Kearney\u2019s<\/a> cd, and eventually getting a few Hebrew words memorized. It was in these moments, precious to me now, that a friendship was forged, and once forged, it was in such times that our friendship was strengthened.<\/p>\n

As slowly as those moments passed then, they quickly come to mind now, pleasant if bittersweet. The room that contained great laughter, difficult conversation, and much discussion lies empty save for a lonely couch and a lamp without a shade. I went in there the other night and was reminded of the promise memories make to us, that though we may never hold them in substance, they pledge to linger on in heart. Sometimes, when brushing teeth, making pasta, or studying, they walk back into sight, perhaps a bit fuzzier, lacking details, maybe, but ever pleasant, ever sweet, always tinged with the sadness of a season passed and a chapter concluded.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"