[He can understand that. The kid has one hell of a resumé, including a very long list of references if he's anything like his sister—if perhaps on the quieter side of social achievement.]
It shouldn't have to feel strange at all.
["Shouldn't," being the keyword. He knows very well how things are and what is. It's probably still going to feel strange, and always will in a roundabout sort of way. Even if they had been separated for only a year, there still would have been a palpable sort of distance between the two, because life made separation an alienating force. It's what made distance and time so hard and painful. But how much of an impact that had on the relationship ultimately fell upon the affected. There were some people who could almost start over again as if their final shared memory had been only yesterday.]
no subject
It shouldn't have to feel strange at all.
["Shouldn't," being the keyword. He knows very well how things are and what is. It's probably still going to feel strange, and always will in a roundabout sort of way. Even if they had been separated for only a year, there still would have been a palpable sort of distance between the two, because life made separation an alienating force. It's what made distance and time so hard and painful. But how much of an impact that had on the relationship ultimately fell upon the affected. There were some people who could almost start over again as if their final shared memory had been only yesterday.]