Thank you, Felicia, for sharing one of the best personal essays on friendship that I’ve read in a long time. I see multi-layered, translucent windows and mirrors of myself, my sisters, my friends and acquaintances (most of them female) in your piece. In reference to Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal: Yes, the wisdom we gain, as a friend to ourselves and others, occurs as we grow older but this is not a by-product of maturing. It is hard-earned, IMHO. Something I view as an open-ended and proactive life lesson. We notice, we let go, we nurture and we embrace the many forms and flowerings of freindship in our lives. There are friendships that grow into something majestic and others that decompose, yet form rich soil for other friendships. Paradoxically, it is only when we become true friends with ourselves that we learn to find true friends who are worthy of our precious time and attention.
