The Difference Between Loyalty and Inertia

For twenty years I showed up for this person. I listened without judgment through multiple mental health crises. I invited her to family gatherings knowing she would not come, because I wanted her to know she was included. When she needed someone to talk to, I was there. When she needed someone to go to her, I went. I absorbed her chaos, her anxiety, her hard periods, and I did it without keeping score. That is what I thought friendship looked like.

What I didn't see for a long time was that the arrangement only ran in one direction.