Many, many decades later, 

 Subtrahend— —the thief of 

time—had stolen years, 

whittling away youth 

with quiet precision, 

leaving only memories as souvenirs.

 

Minuend, proud and steadfast, 

 stood firm against life’s relent-

less subtractions, holding onto 

         laughter, 

unyielding, even as the seasons 

adjusted the equation.

 

Difference, a wanderer, 

 measured space between 

our footprints, sometimes vast, 

sometimes mere inches—

—always shifting but never lost.

 

Constant, our faithful friend, 

 never faltered through life’s 

algorithms, proof that distance 

and time could never truly 

divide what was meant to remain.

 

And so, decades later, 

 when our paths converged once more, 

 the solution was simple, undeniable: 

 Friendship is a theorem unbroken—

                                 —forever true.