Then I moved out of town and so did she.
We kept in touch off and on; phone calls, the occasional visit to each other.
Then we both moved back to the region and we bumped into each other on occasion. A couple of times at the supermarket, but try catching up on 15 years or so in a supermarket aisle on a Saturday morning.
It's not ideal, other shoppers don't like it and I don't blame them. After saying sorry several times and moving our trolleys along we parted, with the promise to catch up.
We never did. The next time I saw her was in a cafe. We were both with other people, so no chance to catch up. However this time I gave her my cellphone number.
The year before last on Boxing Day, she texted me to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and that "we must catch up this year".
I agreed we must. We didn't.
Last year on Boxing Day she texted again, saying something along the line of "here we are again a year later and still we haven't caught up".
So I replied, "right, let's make a date right now". And to cut a long story short (actually I have told it in a rather long way), we agreed on a date and on Sunday we had a very long lunch — two and a half hours, actually, but it still wasn't enough to catch up on all those years.
We talked and talked, we laughed and there was a tear or two — it was amazing. And we made a date to do it again because we've still got plenty to say.
It made me think about how much life has changed with social media.
People don't talk to each other, they text. I do it myself. Instead of picking up the phone, I send a text.
Could this have something to do with our high suicide rate?
Are our young people so used to texting that they find it hard to articulate their feelings so don't know how to ask for help?
Too often people, and it's not just teenagers, have their heads down looking at their phone rather than talking to the person sitting right next to them.
I felt so good after my marathon chat with my friend. Phones don't show emotions or hand gestures, they simply offer words. Words that can easily be taken the wrong way.
You simply can't put emotion into an email or a text no matter how many little emojis, gifs or stickers you add.
Tears and frustration are easily hidden behind a phone.
It's so important in today's world of social media to engage face to face with people of all ages, especially children and teenagers.
Yesterday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced details of a ministerial inquiry into mental health and addiction, to be chaired by former Health and Disability Commissioner Professor Ron Paterson.
It will report back to the Government by the end of October.
That's fantastic news — but in the meantime let's keep talking face to face with friends and family.
• Where to get help: Lifeline 0800 543 354, Suicide Crisis Helpline 0508 828 265, Youthline 0800 376 633, Depression Helpline 0800 111 757
• Linda Hall is Hawke's Bay Today's assistant editor.
