Q I met my best friend when we were babies. We are now in our mid 40s and our friendship has survived, despite decades living on different continents. We both felt like it would last forever. However, about two years ago, my friend became distant. She did not answer some of my texts and her phone calls became less frequent. I worried that I was to blame: I had gone through a few tough times and a divorce, and I assumed that I had monopolised the conversation too often. I wrote my friend a long letter apologising about that, and we resumed our, now slightly chipped, friendship. She of ered once to explain why she had distanced herself, but I didn’t want her to have to justify herself, so I replied that there was no need. In hindsight, perhaps I should have listened to what she had to say.
PHOTOGRAPH: VICTORIA BIRKINSHAW
MARY FENWICK is a writer, speaker and executive coach; she’s also a mother, divorcee and widow.