I remember thinking I
should say something. I didn’t.
Two months later, Jeffrey left for college three states away.
“We obviously need help.”
***
At first, we wrote constantly.
Long letters and birthday cards.
Jeffrey
told me about his roommate who never cleaned anything. I told him about working at the library while taking classes.
He complained about the cafeteria food. I complained about customers returning books with coffee stains.
We wrote constantly.
For the first year, I knew more about Jeffrey’s life than people living down his street.
Then the letters became less frequent. Every week became every other week. Every other week became once a month.
I thought college was changing him.
The truth was, my life was changing, too.
I knew more
about Jeffrey’s life.
I started training to become a teacher. I made new friends. I went on dates.
But every time something important happened, Jeffrey was still the first person
