wwnorton:

“An intimacy develops among a circle of people, you do everything together, you can’t imagine this tight cadre ever breaking apart, and then, quite mundanely, one friend slips away, and then another. It might be because they’re moving across town or to another part of the country. It might be because they’ve started a new relationship, or are getting married or having a kid or changing jobs. It might be because everyone’s getting older and more preoccupied, busy. And, of course, it might simply be that everyone’s become a little bored with one another, doing the same things over and over, hearing and telling the same stories.”

—from The Collective by Don Lee