I have a friend whom I've been very close to for the past eight years and something happened in the past few days that I just need to get off my chest before I decide if I really want to talk to her about it or not. You all are basically my sounding board and, in advance, I thank you.

Last Friday, I graduated massage school magna cum laude after being out of school for a really, really long time. It's my first step in becoming a holistic health practitioner and, needless to say, I was really excited about it and wanted my friends and loved ones there to share this moment with me. My friend was one of those people that I just knew would be there. She wasn't. She didn't call to say she couldn't make it, she just didn't return my text messages or phone calls. When I got home that night, I called her worried. She returned my call the next day and simply said, "Oh yeah, I'm sorry I missed your graduation but I had to work." Now, I understand that things happen but is it too much to ask for a call beforehand? Or perhaps a congratulations? Hmmm...

I just finished re-reading Julie Dash's Daughters of the Dust. For those of you who are familiar with the movie, her novel picks the story up and introduces you to the next generation in addition to giving background information about characters from the movie. The book is extremely well written and takes you back to the Sea Islands and what life was like for our ancestors and elders. As a child of some Geechee folks but having never been to the islands (my great grandfather was the last of my folks to live there; he raised his family in Arkansas), revisiting this book was like talking with family that I hadn't seen in a long time. I felt homesick for something I'd never had and probably never will. It was truly bittersweet.