Friends who come and go

Whitefish is a wonderful community. I really do love everything there is to love about Whitefish. The people, the beautiful surroundings, the community encompass so many appealing things.

There is one exception, though.

I don't like the fact that it is such a seasonal community, as far as friends and jobs go.

It's difficult for people my age. Most of my friends my age have seasonal jobs that allow them to travel and take two or three months off a year. They also have more free time to ski, hike, and take advantage of the outdoors here. This used to annoy me a lot, but not so much anymore. Honestly I think it's just jealousy.

The reality is that people my age (20-something) come and go. You meet this amazing friend and have such great times together, an unbelievable connection, and then one day, sooner or later, they pick up and move to another life. To a bigger city. To a better job.

I just said good-bye to a friend last Saturday who will be traveling to India for 4 to 5 months. She left all her stuff here in storage, which could be somewhat promising, but in all reality and likelihood, she will come back and move on to graduate school or to find a better job.

I happen to be traveling to India with this friend, so I will at least get some more time with her than some of her other friends here, but either way, it's going to be a tough good-bye.

Good-byes with close friends happen all the time. I said good-bye to some of the best friends in the world after high school and college.

But good-byes don't mean forever. I realize this and make sure it's not lost by keeping in touch with friends and family.

It's just different when you can see yourself settling down in a town, yet everyone you grow to know picks up and moves.

One of the saddest good-byes I have ever said was about four years ago in Santiago, Chile. My friends Heather and Addie and I had been traveling in South America together for two months.

We went to a movie, "Billy Elliot," and cried our eyes out during the movie. I think we were just preparing for the aftermath of the movie. Addie was staying in Santiago and Heather and I were heading back to the states.

I remember hugging her and crying, all three of us, at the metro. Addie was crying the most and I felt like we were abandoning her. I remember watching her somber face as the metro doors closed and took Addie away from us.

I have seen her since and we still get together and probably always will get together for the rest of our lives, but still, at the time, it was a heartbreaking good-bye.

In college one of my girlfriends was always trying to make a pact with me that once we went off and did our thing, that we would eventually all settle back down in Missoula and raise our families together.

A nice thought, but not so realistic and I acknowledge that more and more.

People move on. It's just a fact of life. In the end I'm sure it makes us stronger. Right now, I just can't imagine getting back from India at the end of October without an amazing friend like her — a friend I met only a year ago. A friend I discovered is one of my favorite skiing buddies. A friend who has the heart of a angel. A friend it's hard not to talk to daily.

I will miss her and hope that maybe one day, we, and our other friends will start our families in the same town. Maybe Whitefish… who knows. It's a nice thought regardless.

Lindsey Nelson is the photographer at the Whitefish Pilot