My friend Sheikh and I live just 21 miles apart.  We are roughly the same age, share the same values, and we have both experienced the pain of having a child born very premature and struggle to survive.  It would be easy to think that we speak regularly since we can relate to each other’s story so well.  However, the last time we spoke we were both 860 miles away from where we live in Orlando, Florida at an event.  Prior to that, we were 4,611 miles from home in Asuncion, Paraguay.

This past week after exchanging several text messages, Sheikh and I planned to “catch up” over dinner while we were once again in Florida together.  We were finally elbow to elbow for nearly an hour, but unable to speak more than pleasantries because others around the table kept asking us questions.  In fact, all I could tell you at that point was that my friend had a little more gray hair than the last time I saw him and that his family was doing...