expiration dates

do relationships come with an expiration date?

i understand that people will float in and out of each other's lives.  there are people who challenge you, others who teach you an invaluable lesson, and those who change your life forever.   there are even the few who are only around long enough to leave just a fingerprint on your heart. . .

lately i have a friendship that i believe has expired.   like a random condiment hiding out in the refrigerator. (you know the one, that stares at you every day... and suddenly look at the expiry date only to realize it should have been tossed out loooong ago)  oops.  

what i'm talking about is a person who was integral in my life.  someone who was around for so long that i cannot remember what life was like before, and presently i find there is life without them?  we were friends for  such a long time, we knew we'd grow old and gray together...

my confession is this:  there is a person who, i admit, i slowly grew apart from.  our most recent exchanges are merely half-hearted and passive aggressive text messages of 'call me'. . .

days have rolled into months,and it's been now so long it's embarrassing..  the other day, i wondered "hey, how is ol' so&so, i haven't heard from them"  - it was almost as if I didn't even care?

what the HELL is that?  is it the natural progression of unstable an friendship?  of a one-sided relationship?  there's no explanation, nothing to point to that reveals "yeah, there's the beginning and this is how it will end"  how does a friendship like this fizzle out?  when you just don't care enough anymore?  that you're so completely distracted by present life, daily drama, that you don't have the time to check in anymore, that you don't make the time to get in touch anymore?  is it that you simply realize that you're not walking on the same path at all? that you feel so completely disconnected by that person that you don't even know it???

to make matters worse, you start thinking "hey, i haven't heard from ol' so & so"  at just about the same moment you have realized "I haven't called, written, or contacted ol' so & so either"

ouch.

the truth hurts...

this is my confession.
i'm done with the guilt. . .  and i finally have the courage to admit this