No Thank You

You know when you were little and you'd close your eyes when something was happening in front of you that you didn't want to see?
Sometimes it took seconds, sometimes minutes, but when you opened your eyes, it was always gone.

As if it never happened.  
The Bad Guy.  The Monster.  The Boogie Man.

If you just closed your eyes long enough, it eventually went away.

I've been closing my eyes for a year now, pretending that something that was, in fact, happening was not.
On behalf of a friend.
A friend whose family has been in my life for so long, while I know there was a time when I didn't know them, I honestly can't remember that time.
They aren't the "talk to every day" friends.  Or even the "talk to every month" friends.
They are the "you know how much you mean to me, unconditional" friends.  You know the kind that, no matter what happens, you know they'll always be around for you friends.

They are fighting a fight quietly and with nothing but dignity.  

They are amazingly strong.  I honestly don't know how they are doing this.

They are in it together.  That is simply how they are.

And still, all I can do is close my eyes and, from the core of my being, the deepest part of my soul, will it away.

Please, dear God.