Ipurposefully maintain a small circle of friends because I value deep, meaningful connections. Also, I’m terrible at remembering names.

Since when is remembering someone’s name a prerequisite for friendship? When I was a kid, I used to be friends with the bus driver. We gave each other Christmas presents.

All the bus driver knew was that I was the kid who lived at the end of a cul-de-sac that made turning the bus incredibly annoying, and all I knew was that the bus driver had an epic beard that made him look like Santa.

Getting to talk to Santa every day when I got on the bus was nearly as good as getting presents.

Whenever Santa said, “Wake up. It’s your stop,” I knew I was in the presence of a true pal.

Santa wouldn’t let me ride the bus all the way to the end of the route (which wa

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