coming across faces that i had once known so well (but no longer do due to a broken bond) still shatters salt onto the wounds. i can't help it because such people had once took a tour and lived in my heart and mind for some time. not just footprints remain, but many memories and cuts as well. some bonds broke as a result of misunderstandings, some (or rather, most) as a result of "natural" reasons such as distance differences due to different paths in life, some as a result of mistakes on either or both sides..........     but in the end, all faded and/or ended because of the lack of persistence and desire to carry on and strengthen it. but thinking back, i'd never be able to say that i wish i had never met them before because there once had been good times that brightened up my day/life. either way, such people had made a difference in my life no matter the significance. a friendship takes the effort of both sides, and i wish that.... such effort is displayed and acted out more often [yes, this applies to myself]. i admit that i tend to give up and lose persistence easily when i feel pushed back/excluded/denied in any way [and might've "pushed back" people myself]. misunderstandings are part of life, and i wish that there aren't any in mine. words are free of interpretation and i wish that sometimes, things can actually be felt emotionally (without words) rather than heard and then interpreted in a way that might have created a skewed understanding of the true feelings in the first place.  forgiveness isn't just freedom for one side but for both sides together, because the person forgiving will be freeing his/her own heart. i can say right now that i forgive everyonee that had once done me wrong in any way because i just don't want to deal with this shit anymore; its like a battle in my mind and heart when memories are ignited. likewise, i wish those i've done wrong to would forgive me for making mistakes and not thinking with my head. however, i also believe that... if the friendship was strong enough in the first place, the forgiveness would've been given before it had ended, because its a matter of what level of significance one holds of the friendship/bond in the first place [but then again, if the friend was good enough in the first place, he/she wouldn't have done anything to hurt you , right? well, people make mistakes]. "friends come and go", but i also believe that the same friends can return even if they did leave for some time.