Damn. Well said. After hundreds of thousands of miles of travel, i moved back to my home town during Covid.

I see folks from secondary school working at the drive thru, grocery store, and coffee shops. Our previous relationship somewhere on the spectrum of classmate to secondary friend group.

Sadly I usually see pain and embarrassment in their eyes for a life unlived.

We’ve both had struggles, but theirs were forced upon them and mine, with plenty of exceptions, I sought out. It’s too big a gap to bridge and we both decide in an instant that we don’t know each other anymore.