She kept inviting me even when I always said no

Dear Delyara, During depression, I declined nearly every invitation my friend sent. Coffee. Walks. Dinner. Her birthday. I eventually told her to stop asking because the guilt of saying no was too much. She replied, “I’ll make the invitations answer-free.” After that, messages arrived saying things like, “Walking at six. No need to reply,” or “Soup here if you want it. Fine if not.” For months, I went nowhere. Then one evening, I put on shoes and joined her halfway through a walk. She did not make a fuss or ask whether I was better. She only said, “You missed a very ugly dog five minutes ago.” Today, we walked the same route a year later. I told her I had assumed repeated refusals would eventually make me too disappointing to invite. She said invitations were never a debt. Friendship gave me a door that stayed unlocked without somebody standing outside demanding I walk through it.