My friend J. He's the son of a neighbour I had years ago. I can't really remember how we started talking, but I think he was sorting the brakes on my car (he used to be a car mechanic) and we started texting. He's really funny and we could talk for HOURS. We'd go out, or go to each other's houses late at night - because we both work late and we're both night owls. Then, one day, he never answered my texts and he stopped answering the door. I couldn't figure out what had happened, and he was stubbornly silent. After a few weeks I got annoyed and texted him, "If that's the way you treat your friends I'm not interested." I never heard a peep from him.

Fast forward a few years and he came to my house to say he was sorry to hear about the death of my brother. And just like that we were friends again. It was like those years never happened. It was lockdown times so we'd go out late at night and drive around and eat ice cream. Still laughing. Still talking for hours. It turns out he has terrible bouts of depression and can't talk to anyone. He locks himself away. (If only he'd told me this in the beginning!) He's just came through another bout. We had coffee for three hours on Wednesday. Yay! I have to tell myself that it's nothing to do with me when he goes quiet, and not to take it personally. It's hard, but it's just the way it is. He's worth it.