Practically Fit interviews Joan Maiden
The Loneliness of Losing a Lifelong Best Friend
October 12th, 2026 by Joan Maiden
One of the hardest things about growing older is learning how often we have to say goodbye. We expect to lose our parents and grandparents. We know, intellectually, that death is part of life. But losing a best friend who has been beside you for almost your entire life is different.
There is a particular loneliness in losing someone who knew you before you became the person you are today. Someone who remembers the little girl you were, who witnessed your awkward years, your mistakes, your heartbreaks and triumphs, and who knows the stories you’ve forgotten.
For me, that person was JJ.
We were best friends from the age of five. Five. We grew up together, through difficult families, the deaths of our parents, destructive relationships, depression, and raising children. We survived things we weren’t sure we would survive. And through it all, we had each other.
JJ was the person I could call without explaining the backstory. She was also the one who told me the truth I needed to hear, even when I didn’t want to hear it. She loved me enough to be honest, and somehow, after all those years, she still loved me anyway.
That kind of friendship is rare. Maybe once in a lifetime.
