No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other’s worth.

Friendships held together by convenience fade when the convenience ends, which is why nearness looks like the thing doing the work. When the bond rests instead on real regard for who the other person is, absence changes how often you speak and nothing else. You can go a year without contact and pick up mid-sentence, because nothing was being maintained by the contact. The respect was carrying it the whole time.

Think of someone you have not spoken to in too long and have quietly written off as lost. Send something short with no apology attached, and see how little repair is needed.