Growing Up or Apart?

So I was watching an episode of Greek today and the theme of the episode seemed to be about coming to the end of an era (college) and having to make important decisions in life. Which direction do we go in? So it got me thinking about my life and all the things that have been going on lately.

I've been married now for a year and a half and I'm now just starting to realize how things have changed. I was one of the first of my friends to get married. Now the majority of my friends are either married, engaged or in committed relationships. It just blows my mind how things are different from a few years ago. I was always the person to be so available for my friends and now it's as though I barely have the time. I've got a husband and a full time job and the responsibilities that go along with those things. I'm starting to feel as though my friends and I are growing apart. I look at my best friends and it's suddenly hitting me just how different things acutally are.

But it brings me to the question. Are we growing up or growing apart? I feel bad when I don’t have the time, but I guess I have to accept the fact that I’m adult now and when you have certain responsibilities, a lot of free time goes out the window. Does the closeness of a friendship have to evaporate as you grow older? If losing that closeness is a prerequisite for maturing, then what do you do about it? Do you find new friends that get where you’re coming from and are on the same playing field? Am I only supposed to hang out with friends that are in committed relationships? Do I really have to lose one of my best friends, because he isn’t married? Or because I’m not single? Do I have to be replaced, becuase I don't have as much time as I used to? Sometimes one friend has to carry more of the load than the other. Well at least that's how I've always thought of it. But it doesn’t seem fair. And I know that I’m pretty much rambling right now. Some days I just miss how simple things were five years ago. I was on the precipice of so much change at the time, getting ready to head off to college, yet it seemed much easier and less complex. I knew exactly what I had to do. School and friends were it for me. It wasn’t about my career or my husband or bills. I guess to have good things in life you have to sacrifice. I just wish I didn’t have to sacrifice friends or the intimacy that goes along with relationships. I have the feeling I’m about to find out what my friendships are really made of and who I can really depend on to be there for me when it counts.