As we grow and navigate the infinite twists and turns of life we may often find ourselves in a particularly difficult and awkward fork in the road - outgrowing a friendship. While there are endless articles, books, podcasts, and movies about the end of romantic relationships, we often don’t speak about what happens when a friendship has run its course.

How many stars do we carry without realizing it? My cousin and I once ravaged through the cold, cluttered basement, hunting for taped hockey sticks misplaced during the move. We planned to roll a rubber ball outdoors between makeshift laundry-bucket goalposts. Among the mess, a dust-covered digital piano sat tilted on dented cardboard boxes — the perfect distraction. My fingers instinctively pressed its keys, repeating the only six chords I’d ever learned. 

By Abbigale Kernya for The 44 North Managing Editor A woman with a sparkler celebrating the new year at a party. 1. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.    This has been my motto lately. I’m sure my friends are sick of hearing about it, and I admit saying it out loud repeatedly makes me feel about thirty years older than I actually am, but it’s true.    2024 was an epic learning curve for me in so many ways. Mental health, specifically, I had a friend