Ask Doc Tyler

I’m a freshman here, and school has been amazing so far. Friends, fun, independence. Thing is, I feel like I’m losing touch with all of my friends from high school. Even the girl I dated for three years, I’ve only spoken to a couple times all year. It’s not like I want to disregard my long-standing friendships, but I can’t find a way to really stay connected with all that’s going on in my life.

-Neglectful in North

Dear Neglectful,

“Friends forever” can be a misused cliche; while we obviously would like our most stable friendships to last until our deaths, mail-correspondence relationships most often fade into unavoidable oblivion. My closest childhood chum, Jared, parted ways with me after our secondary schooling: I went to college, he went to California. I think he became a cowboy or a pimp, I don’t really remember. But the point is, I made new friends, and while I missed his friendship, I was able to lead a good life.