Scrolling Through the Old Photos of a Person Who is Now a Complete Stranger

Dear Delyara, I spent an hour tonight looking through my old digital albums from 2016—photo after photo of my university housemate and me laughing in cheap bars, traveling on night buses, and sitting on the floor of our messy kitchen. We were entirely inseparable for five years. Tonight, I realized I haven't heard his voice in twenty months. There wasn't an argument or a dramatic falling out; we just slowly stopped replying to texts, let the birthday messages slide, and allowed the momentum of our separate careers to carry us in opposite directions. It is a deeply weird, hollow grief to realize that a person who once knew every single one of your secrets is now someone you would pass on the street with nothing but a polite nod.