Long lonely Friday nights

I am sipping my diet cherry coke from Sonic and visiting with a good friend. She seems to be sad this evening, something troubling her heart. We discuss our children, work, school stuff and the like. General topic conversation, then she opens up with her unhappiness. She is lonely. She longs for a simple phone call, a date, words of concern. Her marriage has gone south with no returning ticket purchased. She has begun to wonder of life on her own. Would she do it? Could she do it? She feels she has a room mate instead of a husband. He comes and goes as he pleases and always has a place to lay his head. She remembers when love was sweet, not perfect. Her eyes moisten and her voice softens. He provides well. He just doesn't provide for her spirit. What would it take? A conversation between the two. Quality time where she knew he wanted to be there. A lunch. A dinner date. A simple question of what can I do for you? To tell her she is beautiful, a good mother, and the appreciation of all that she does. I see her eyes drift to place in her soul. She is broken and rejected with no place left to go. Her mailbox is neat with grass trimmed around. Her yard is complete with the shrubs and the mulch. Her house filled with furniture and walls full of color. Yet, as I stand here and listen the halls echo with emptiness. There is no spot where she usually sits, as I scan through the place, I realize this is simply a space not a home. The path most traveled is the hallway to the door, for there is no time for conversation, or to sit for a spell. I listen and hug her as I leave for my car. She calls to me, can we do this again? My lips speak their names to my God as I turn to her and say, "Of course, anytime, just call me and say." My eyes become heavy as I drive to my home, my heart hurting for a friend who wants a home.