heartache

Amy and her family are dealing with another tragedy. One of Amy's little cousins, a girl about five years old, was struck by a car while crossing the street with a friend on Friday. Amy's cousin died and her little friend is on life support, and not expected to survive.
Amy called me this morning...
Since we have been doing the long distance relationship thing for almost two years now, we can tell a lot from the tones we invoke in phone conversations. Talking with her this morning broke my heart. I could hear her grief. I could hear her sadness and tears. I could hear the tears she is been crying for the last few days...
My heart aches for her. I want to be able to wrap my arms around her and let her cry, let her grieve. I want to take her pain and shoulder it as my own. I want to rub her back and let her twirl my hair until she falls asleep... but I can't. We both have responsibilities, responsibilities that keep us grounded in the cities where we live, three and half hours away from each other.