When I was doing my post graduation, I had a beautiful friend in my class. She was funny, witty and always smiling. Then she got married to a friend she always secretly loved and she was over the moon when he proposed to her.
The wedding was a fairytale of sorts. She moved to her husband’s home, stopped working, gave birth to three children and was now a full time householder.
Years went by, her husband topped his profession and their children topped their universities. We seldom met but were aware of each other’s careers. We spoke once s year, on each other’s birthdays.
She had severed ties with all her old friend and it was a chalk age to get her to agree for a reunion lunch. She agreed after a lot of bullying.
We were surprised that she looked older, smiled hesitantly and laughed forcibly. She enjoyed our compan
but was impatient to return home.We joked that we will continue the party at her home. She declined, said her family was antisocial and boring.
I believed her because she never lied, yet today, after all these years I wonder if I missed signals of something breaking?
Could it be that her isolation was an armour of a bitter truth? Could she be battling abuse and never shared her woes?
There is a possibility that all is well and I overthinking! I will never the truth because she never told me and I never trespassed.I was never invited to any happy occasions in her family nor
intimated about her parents’ demise, even though we are friends of 40 plus years!
I have so many questions and no answers…
My reason to write this blog is that if you have a close friend you have lost touch with and who you feel has transformed mysteriously, there is a possibility that she needs help and is unable to reach out.
Don’t wait for decades trying to analyse her life. Pick up the phone and ask her straight if all is well. If you are familiar with her address, drop by unannounced even if you are unwelcome. You will have an answer, I don’t!