Growing up is at the core of so many of my friendships—whether that growing up was as a kid, a college student, a new parent, a young employee launching a career, or as a contemporary wandering the bewildering stages of middle age and beyond. 

No matter what our age, navigating the new throws us together like kids at our first summer camp, where friendships are forged as we help each other stave off fear and loneliness, and figure out if there really are snipes in the woods. 

Connecting with friends—in person, on a call, or through written words—helps me through every evolution, shores me up as I stretch into yet another phase of life, and keeps me thriving with camaraderie, commiseration, and laughter. Some friends I’m in contact with almost daily. Others are like the faded, unraveling sweater I pull out of the bottom drawer every now and then: a source of comfort I can’t bear to part with, even if I wear it only once a year. 

How lovely it is to have friends who can pick up where I left off, even if there are years between conversations; who will take my hand without hesitation; who will connect with their friends, and their friends, and their friends, creating a ladder of love and support that carries me up to the stars.