A letter from your ‘strong’ friend:
You forgot to check on me.
Did you feel that in your gut? Stop. This is not about guilt. I know that feeling all too well. Guilt over friendships, over missing appointments, over raising your voice or eating that donut. This isn’t about guilt and I want to be clear about that.
This is about awareness.
We flew our ‘check on your strong friend’ flags high and preached to the world about depression and anxiety when fashion icon Kate Spade tragically took her own life. Months later, are we still checking?
You’ve asked me where I’ve been.
You said I seem off.
You’ve told me through messages and texts that you miss my videos and my posts.
You know what I heard? ‘Why aren’t you playing the role I need you to play? You aren’t keeping up. You are failing.’
I have over 1,400 friends on Facebook and over 1,000 followers and I can count on one hand who has actually ‘checked’ on this ‘strong’ friend.
I meet you for drinks when you’re facing a disaster. I bring you dinner or flowers. I send you texts. I’m your sounding board. I’m there to help you plan an event or troubleshoot an issue. I’m here to spread the word about your newest venture or achievements.
I haven’t been there recently. Have you noticed? Are you upset I’m not meeting your needs? Have you thought to ask why?
Maybe you’ve told yourself over and over that you haven’t heard from me, you should probably text me or check on me later…but you haven’t. I know. I do the same things. Again, this isn’t a guilt thing.
