LOCALIZED DISTURBANCE

As I find myself hitting an age when it's flattering to be carded, I've noticed a distancing within my group of closest friends. Either through life experiences resulting in life-course corrections or actual geography, drifting has occurred.

It's not all bad, and arguably a simple fact of life. I have many friends who I may not see for an age, and just as easily pick up where we left off. Similarly, modern communications make it easy to keep people close in spite of distance.

However, I find myself faced with an unfortunate reality. With my closest friend daring to abandon Seattle and take on new adventures in the wilds of eastern Washington, I find myself without a "local emergency contact." It's the contact info employers, apartment managers and insurance companies want on hand to call up in case you become incapacitated. Locally, I do have some good friends, lots of lovely acquaintances and even a smattering of relatives, but I'm uncertain if I could or should expect any of them to leap into action if something awful happens in the middle of the night.

There are people in life who will jump when the Friend signal hits the sky, and I have found those are the people you don't even have to ask if they are willing to fill that space in your paperwork. You just know. Currently, my space is blank, and it feels kinda lonely.