Buddy story · Restart
Coming back after eight months away
Sadie came back after eight months off and was paired with somebody who had never left, at her own request.
- Paired
- January 2026
- Cadence
- Weekly
- Status
- ongoing
She asked specifically not to be paired with another returner, on the grounds that two people both feeling sheepish would reinforce each other. Benedikt agreed and paired her with Freya, who has been steady throughout and who was briefed to be entirely ordinary about it.
Freya's approach was to ask nothing at all about the eight months for the first six weeks. Sadie told her eventually, unprompted, and describes the not-being-asked as the reason she could.
The second start has been slower and, Sadie says, kinder, largely because she negotiated a longer schedule with her prescriber from the beginning rather than after it went wrong. She is now the person the restarting-after-a-break circle sends people to.
I did not want somebody else who was sorry. I wanted somebody who thought it was Tuesday.
I did not ask about the eight months. She told me in March, at the end of a message about a cat.