Over the past three years, all but two of Sasha's core group of high-school friends have had children, and of her core group of college friends, half of them have had children and others are in various stages of family planning. In that time, Sasha has been trying to start a family too, struggling through failed IVF cycles. Sometimes, admittedly, she found it difficult to stay close to her friends who were successfully starting families while she suffered through infertility. But the distance also grew as her day-to-day life and theirs became too much and the time they had to give each other became too little. Sometimes it felt like all anybody would talk about was their children and their adorable developmental milestones, and she couldn't relate. She would text, craving idle chitchat, and her friend would respond with a photo of her child at the playground-annoying at best, but it could also fill Sasha with a specific grief that threatened to overwhelm her.
Eventually, Sasha moved back to Los Angeles, and on a recent visit to New York, she was smacked in the face by how different her friends' lives had become. All we did was go to playgrounds, she says. My whole photo reel is just pictures of me with different kids of my friends at the playground. She and her husband decided the next time they go to New York, they'll cough up the money for a hotel. We're going to make our plans, and if people would like to get sitters and meet us out, great. Otherwise, sorry.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Trapped in Time
A woman relives the same day in a stunning Danish novel.
Polyphonic City
A SOFT, SHIMMERING beauty permeates the images of Mumbai that open Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light. For all the nighttime bustle on display-the heave of people, the constant activity and chaos-Kapadia shoots with a flair for the illusory.
Lear at the Fountain of Youth
Kenneth Branagh's production is nipped, tucked, and facile.
A Belfast Lad Goes Home
After playing some iconic Americans, Anthony Boyle is a beloved IRA commander in a riveting new series about the Troubles.
The Pluck of the Irish
Artists from the Indiana-size island continue to dominate popular culture. Online, they've gained a rep as the \"good Europeans.\"
Houston's on Houston
The Corner Store is like an upscale chain for downtown scene-chasers.
A Brownstone That's Pink Inside
Artist Vivian Reiss's Murray Hill house of whimsy.
These Jeans Made Me Gay
The Citizens of Humanity Horseshoe pants complete my queer style.
Manic, STONED, Throttle, No Brakes
Less than six months after her Gagosian sölu show, the artist JAMIAN JULIANO-VILLAND lost her gallery and all her money and was preparing for an exhibition with two the biggest living American artists.
WHO EVER THOUGHT THAT BRIGHT PINK MEAT THAT LASTS FOR WEEKS WAS A GOOD IDEA?
Deli Meat Is Rotten