The people who seem like they’ll always be around are exactly the ones we forget to check on.

Reliability makes people invisible. The friend who never needs anything, the parent who handles everything, the one who always texts first: none of them set off an alarm, so attention goes to whoever is loudest instead. Being steady is not the same as being fine, and steady people rarely volunteer otherwise.

Think of the most dependable person in your life and message them for no reason this week. Not a favor, not a plan, just a real question about how they are. Ask again if the first answer is fine, since that is a reflex more often than an answer.