All We Ever Wanted

by Emily Giffin

She wasn’t a gossip—at least not a mean-spirited one—she was simply fascinated by other people’s business, from their wealth and health to their politics and religion.

What I can’t stand are the judgmental hypocrites—people who talk a big Christian game yet don’t even make a cursory attempt to follow the Golden Rule, let alone some of those pesky commandments.

Parenting can be a real drain, even when sharing the misery with a spouse. Alone it was hard as fuck.

It was probably a function of getting older—I think we all become exaggerated versions of ourselves,

But I cherished our filterless relationship and considered it the truest measure of a best friend, greater than pure affection. Who was the person you trusted enough to be your most transparent self with, in both good times and bad? For me, that person had always been Julie.

“Nonsense,” she said. “People make time for what matters to them.”

Because sometimes you just can’t see the things that are the closest to you.