How do you bid farewell to one of your best friends, your confidante, your roomate of 5 years?

Easy, it is not.

But today, we had a chance to visit with Buddy and his wife, who after 10 years of being away from home for undergraduate and postgraduate medical training, TEN YEARS, they are finally heading home next week to begin their new chapter of readjusting to life in Malaysia. Ten long years, which included an ongoing battle with esophageal cancer, but also of many many wonderful events of weddings, birthdays, amongst friends and what we've come to see as 'family' here.

I do catch myself thinking though, of how as we go on with our own lives and plant our own roots, friends do part ways (at least in distance, thankfully never in spirit, even those I don't get to see often anymore). The numerous buddies I grew up with whom I left behind in Malaysia. The friends of which I had the honor of meeting in our 6 years in Rochester. I miss them all.

Good luck, guys, and safe travels.