Sarah and I met in college and instantly fell into an intense, sisterly friendship. I thought I would know her forever.

 

After college, our lives diverged¹. I moved to New York City and started a career. Sarah moved back home, down south, got married and had kids way before I did.

 

As the years passed, we had less and less in common, it seemed. I drifted farther and farther away. I stopped answering her calls. I was too young to understand that old friends are the ones who can remind you of who you once were. I was too young to know that while we may grow up and shed our younger selves like snakes molting² skin, those selves are still important and we should keep close those who knew us when and remind us of the distance we've traveled. I didn't yet know that there are many aspects of a friendship far more important than sharing a career, a neighborhood, a kid's school, a life path.

 

Sarah and I were connected on a level deeper than all that, and the fact that I'm not going to be pulling up my rocking chair next to hers in a nursing home some day makes me sad. I blew it. Sarah, if you're reading this, I'm sorry.

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