I had a friend. She was sweet and beautiful. She was beautiful, but not like those girls in magazines; she wasn’t just beautiful for her looks.

I loved to watch the excitement in her eyes. They sparkled. They changed colors when she got excited. I remember many times staying up all night talking. Her gentle touch was amazing!

The conversations always moved from one subject to the next, rapidly. Her mind was clear and bright, and so amazingly curious. We never argued. Eventually one of us genuinely saw the other’s point of view. Or we just moved on to the next subject.

We loved food and travel and dogs and photography. We grew together; our minds grew together; we cherished our time together. Her aura shined ever so brightly over and over.

One day she changed. She had met someone that was taller, stronger, better looking than me. Yet he wasn’t bright. Curiosity and conversation about deep things didn’t interest him. But she insisted he was right for her. She would never tell me what they did talk about. If they stayed up all night talking. Eventually we drifted apart. I was very sad.

I see her every now and then. She is still beautiful but her aura is fading. The color in her eyes is duller. I don’t see the sparkle that I always saw, that I liked to think I put there.

Does she know she is getting dull? Does she know her aura is fading? I…