The Phone Call I Almost Didn't Make

I was busy. That was the story I kept telling myself. I had a job that took everything I had, a family that needed me, and a friend across the country whose life seemed to be coming apart in slow motion. Every time I thought about calling Sam, I told myself I'd do it next weekend, when I had more time, when I knew what to say.

Six months passed like that. Six months of "next weekend."

The day I finally called him, we talked for almost three hours. He didn't need me to fix anything. He needed to hear that someone in his life still saw him as Sam, not as a problem to be managed. He laughed at the same jokes he had laughed at when we were eighteen. He told me he had been having a hard time. He thanked me for calling.

I think about that call all the time. I think about the five months and twenty-nine days I waited. I think about all the people right now who have a Sam in their life and are telling themselves the same lie.

You don't need a reason. You don't need a plan. You don't need the right words. You just need to dial the number. The conversation starts itself.