Everyone says they want friends. Most of us want to be loved.

We call it friendship because saying “I’m lonely, I want to be understood, held, missed, and chosen by someone” feels too damn vulnerable. We keep asking for friends when what our hearts are really begging for is one person who stays when everyone else leaves. Someone who notices the silence. Someone who makes us feel like we matter.

Maybe we were never hungry for more people.

Maybe we were just starving to be loved.

“The saddest thing in life is to be surrounded by people and still feel alone.”