so I finally worked up the courage to bring up that awkward pause in our friendship with her today. I said it gently, I think, over tea—just "hey, I've noticed things feel a little different lately and I just want to make sure we're okay." and she said everything IS fine. but she couldn't look me in the eye the whole time. and now I'm sitting here wondering if pushing for honesty was brave or if I just made things worse by naming the elephant in the room when she wanted to pretend it wasn't there. sometimes the kindest thing feels like the hardest thing to do right.
