A while back, as I neared the end of a long season in the wilderness, I sometimes felt more alone than at any other time in my adult life.
There I was, barely into my 40s and experiencing difficult aspects of early menopause after years of hormonal upheaval. Thankfully, I did have some friends who could empathize a bit. They had been through the same transition, though maybe not in such a tumultuous way or at such an early age.
Many of my friends—women my age or younger, most with school-age children at home—weren’t there yet and simply couldn’t relate.