Breakups can be devastating. When it comes to romantic relationships, we know roughly the shape that a breakup takes. Lovers breakup on our screens and in the pages of our books, and hundreds of song lyrics lament the heartache. A breakup between friends, however, rarely receives the same level of recognition, yet the hurt it can cause can be just as painful.
When I parted ways with one of my closest childhood friends, there were no songs to help guide me out of my grief, no tearful evenings spent crying to loved ones who acknowledged that my heart was broken. The reason for this is because we elevate romantic love above friendship when, in fact, our friends are some of the greatest loves of our lives. This friend of mine had another baby, sold their house and was moving out of the city we both lived in. Typically, these would be milestone events we’d celebrate together. Their first baby had
