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There are only a few times in life when you manage to make a friend who actually sticks around for the whole ride. If you’re lucky, you found one in childhood—you know, the one who remembers your worst haircut, your first heartbreak, and that time you thought parachute pants were a good idea. You get to share more than a half-century of life together and you’re grateful, but it makes it hard when you get that dreaded phone call saying the Grim Reaper has tagged your buddy for his fantasy draft team.
Even rarer is the miracle of making a lifelong friend as a grown-up. It’s trickier, of course. Work eats your time, kids eat your sanity, marriages demand maintenance, and before you know it, somebody’s packed up and moved three time zones away. Add to that the fact that long-distance phone calls used to cost roughly the same as a car payment and you begin to see why “staying in touch” deserves Olympic-level medals.
And yet, against all odds, a few friendships survive. Sometimes it’s with the help of text messages, emojis that don’t quite convey what you meant (sorry for the accidental eggplant, Jean), or that annual “We should Zoom sometime!” message that never actually happens. But occasionally, the gods smile on you and you get to meet in person again. And then, like magic, you walk through the door after a decade apart, and the conversation picks up right where you left off—as if the two of you had just stepped out for coffee that morning.
What’s makes a genuine friendship? Not the years, not the miles, not the questionable hairstyles… but the fact that you can be apart for ages and still come back, laughing at the same ridiculous shared memories, arguing the same nonsense, and sweetly avoiding the subject of the new wrinkles and pounds. Now that’s the the mark of a lifelong friendship!