Long Distance Friendship

Any kind of long distance relationship is difficult for various (different, and usually several) reasons. Long distance love relationships are the hardest, and usually don't last. Friendships, at least with good friends, do last, but can present their own difficulties.
I just talked to my friends, Annie and her father Yuan, down around Philadelphia. It is difficult because Yuan's English is not always easy to understand, particularly on the phone. Annie's English is better, but she doesn't always speak clearly. It is much easier in person. Also, it is much more enjoyable in person.
I miss them, and miss eating dinner over their house when they lived right down the street. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult for me to visit them. I can't leave Edgar, my cockatiel, overnight, or take him with me, for health reasons. His health. Being as it's a four and a half hour drive, it would be too much for me to drive back & forth in a day. That would be for my own health reasons.
Life can be unfair, as we know. And not being able to see them, at least once in awhile, is not something I'm happy about. I can only trust that I will see them again. And in this world, not the next. Although I do hope to see them there, as well. But not in the near future. Knock on wood.
Good friendships are not so easy to find. I can only say, that for whatever reason, I am very lucky.