Time and I have always had a... strange relationship. I've had friends in different timezones since I was 12 or 13, so I'm pretty good with them now. Britain's usually 6 hours ahead of me, my friends on the West Coast 2 behind. My friends in Canada ahead 1, and Japan 14-15 hours ahead.

But...I don't *feel* time like a lot of people do. An hour and a day can feel the same, and waking up in the morning is just a continuation of the previous day with a newly-risen sun. It flows around me, barely touching me, while I see it caress those I know well. I get to see my distant friends change, grow, and many are starting families. It sort of freaks me out, because I'm still the same. It's strange to see people who've literally fought for what they believe in crumble beneath the weight of the choices they've made, or, worse, to see them give up on things entirely. I have a friend who, while we were in school, complaining that her boyfriend wanted a handfasting, and she thought that was too much commitment. Next time I'm in contact with her, she has a child by the same person, something she was vehemently against just a couple of years before. I have friends with military husbands on overseas assignments. I have friends who ARE military husbands on overseas assignments.

Meanwhile, to me, the past is as close as something that happened five minutes ago, I just can't remember it. Pretty much everything I feel feels the same as it always has. Things that hurt still hurt, and will always hurt, and won't fade. Neither will the good, though it may become eclipsed. It makes many things a struggle, especially in darker times.

But for me... even though things around me have changed, I haven't. If I have to, I'll be the last uncompromising person out there, because someone has to be.