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 diverged. 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 molting 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.