Last week, the baby nutrition company ByHeart recalled all of its infant formula over concerns that it may be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium that causes infant botulism.
Now the company is facing increasing legal drama and backlash from customers for potentially exposing babies to the dangerous illness.
According to a November 14 update from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a total of 23 infants in 13 states who were exposed to the formula have developed suspected or confirmed infant botulism. All of the infants have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported to date.
ByHeart had voluntarily recalled two batches of its infant formula on November 8. Just three days later, it expanded that recall to encompass all of its products, including any unexpired lots of formula cans and single-serve anywhere pack sticks.
Per the FDA, most babies with infant botulism will initially develop constipation, poor feeding, loss of head control, and difficulty swallowing, which can progress to difficulty breathing and respiratory arrest.
Symptoms of infant botulism, which is diagnosed clinically, can take as long as several weeks to develop following formula ingestion. Parents are advised to stop using any ByHeart infant formula products immediately.
As new botulism cases potentially related to ByHearts products continue to emerge, the companywhich positions itself as dedicated to making the best formula in the worldis facing backlash both through multiple lawsuits and a social media firestorm led by its own customers.
Legal backlash against ByHeart ramps up
As of this writing, at least five different lawsuits have been filed against ByHeart related to the infant botulism outbreak, according to federal court records.
All of the plaintiffs are identified in the complaints as buyers of ByHearts products. Three of the complaints are proposed class actions. In at least two cases, the plaintiffs have infant children whom they believe contracted infant botulism through the contaminated formula, the court filings show.
According to a November 12 legal complaint, plaintiffs Stephen and Yurany Dexter of Flagstaff, Arizona, decided to introduce formula three days after the birth of their child (referred to as E.D.) to supplement breast milk.
Looking at the available choices, they chose the ByHeart brand because of the healthy-looking labeling, top shelf placement, and higher price, the filing reads.
But over a month later, the child began to exhibit symptoms of infant botulism, it says, resulting in multiple hospital stays and hundreds of thousands in medical expenses.
In a second complaint filed on that same day, plaintiffs Michael and Hanna Everett of Richmond, Kentucky, detail a similar experience with their child, referred to as P.E.
This case arises from a parents worst nightmare: infant formula laced with dangerous Bacteria, the suit reads.
It goes on to explain that the Everetts purchased ByHearts products due to its promises to be a “healthier alternative to traditional formula, only for their four-month-old daughter to contract infant botulism.
Soon after consuming the formula, she developed constipation and alarming neurological symptoms, it reads. Plaintiffs brought their first-born daughter to the emergency department where doctors diagnosed P.E. with infant botulism. Public health investigators later confirmed that she was part of a multistate outbreak caused by ByHeart formula.
Reached for comment by Fast Company, ByHeart emailed a statement from cofounder and president Mia Funt.
Our number one priority is infant health,” Funt says. “We express our deepest sympathy to the families currently impacted by the cases of infant botulism. We are working with the FDA and independent experts to implement the recall quickly while the factual investigation continues. We are committed to getting answersincluding partnering with the FDA and independent expertsand will share updates as soon as we can.
Disappointed customers take to social media
Throughout the new lawsuits against ByHeart, a recurring theme is the idea that parents chose the companys products due to its positioning as a healthy, science-backed alternative to traditional formula.
And under an Instagram post from ByHeart apologizing for the recalls, hundreds of commenters have echoed those sentiments, expressing their disappointment in the brand.
I’m a sitting duck waiting around to see if my baby is okay because she consumed contaminated formula from you,” one commenter wrote, added that “we trusted you with nourishing our baby and you failed us.
Another added, From the bottom of my heart I hope your company goes bankrupt and that no retailer will ever carry your products again.”
New York-based ByHeart was founded in 2016 and most recently raised $72 million in a Series C round from undisclosed investors, according to PitchBook, for a post-valuation of $908 million.
In the wake of the recalls, ByHeart has updated its website to spotlight information about the situation, including a link to its customer support line (866-201-9069).
Fast Company reached out to the FDA for the latest details. The agency says it is continuing to investigate the outbreak along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state-level public health officials.
Blue Origins New Glenn rocket successfully made its way to orbit for the second time on Nov. 13, 2025. Although the second launch is never as flashy as the first, this mission is still significant in several ways.
For one, it launched a pair of NASA spacecraft named ESCAPADE, which are headed to Mars orbit to study that planets magnetic environment and atmosphere. The twin spacecraft will first travel to a Lagrange point, a place where the gravity between Earth, the Moon, and the Sun balances. The ESCAPADE spacecraft will remain there until Mars is in better alignment to travel to.
And two, importantly for Blue Origin, New Glenns first stage booster successfully returned to Earth and landed on a barge at sea. This landing allows the booster to be reused, substantially reducing the cost to get to space.
Blue Origin launched its New Glenn rocket and landed the booster on a barge at sea on Nov. 13, 2025.
As a space policy expert, I see this launch as a positive development for the commercial space industry. Even though SpaceX has pioneered this form of launch and reuse, New Glenns capabilities are just as important.
New Glenn in context
Although Blue Origin would seem to be following in SpaceXs footsteps with New Glenn, there are significant differences between the two companies and their rockets.
For most launches today, the rocket consists of several parts. The first stage helps propel the rocket and its spacecraft toward space and then drops away when its fuel is used up. A second stage then takes over, propelling the payload all the way to orbit.
While both New Glenn and Falcon Heavy, SpaceXs most powerful rocket currently available, are partially reusable, New Glenn is taller, more powerful, and can carry a greater amount of payload to orbit.
Blue Origin plans to use New Glenn for a variety of missions for customers such as NASA, Amazon, and others. These will include missions to Earths orbit and eventually to the Moon to support Blue Origins own lunar and space exploration goals, as well as NASAs.
NASAs Artemis program, which endeavors to return humans to the Moon, is where New Glenn may become important. In the past several months, several space policy leaders, as well as NASA officials, have expressed concern that Artemis is progressing too slowly. If Artemis stagnates, China may have the opportunity to leap ahead and beat NASA and its partners to the lunar South Pole.
These concerns stem from problems with two rockets that could potentially bring Americans back to the Moon: the space launch system and SpaceXs Starship. NASAs space launch system, which will launch astronauts on its Orion crew vehicle, has been criticized as too complex and costly. SpaceXs Starship is important because NASA plans to use it to land humans on the Moon during the Artemis III mission. But its development has been much slower than anticipated.
In response, Blue Origin has detailed some of its lunar exploration plans. They will begin with the launch of its uncrewed lunar lander, Blue Moon, early next year. The company is also developing a crewed version of Blue Moon that it will use on the Artemis V mission, the planned third lunar landing of humans.
Blue Origin officials have said they are in discussions with NASA over how they might help accelerate the Artemis program.
[Photo: Blue Origin]
New Glenns significance
New Glenns booster landing makes this most recent launch quite significant for the company. While it took SpaceX several tries to land its first booster, Blue Origin has achieved this feat on only the second try. Landing the boosters and, more importantly, reusing them has been key to reducing the cost to get to space for SpaceX, as well as others such as Rocket Lab.
That two commercial space companies now have orbital rockets that can be partially reused shows that SpaceXs success was no fluke.
With this accomplishment, Blue Origin has been able to build on its previous experience and success with its suborbital rocket, New Shepard. Launching from Blue Origin facilities in Texas since 2015, New Shepard has taken people and cargo to the edge of space, before returning to itslaunch site under its own power.
New Glenn is also significant for the larger commercial space industry and U.S. space capabilities. It represents real competition for SpaceX, especially its Starship rocket. It also provides more launch options for NASA, the U.S. government, and other commercial customers, reducing reliance on SpaceX or any other launch company.
In the meantime, Blue Origin is looking to build on the success of New Glenns launch and its booster landing. New Glenn will next launch Blue Origins Blue Moon uncrewed lander in early 2026.
This second successful New Glenn launch will also contribute to the rockets certification for national security space launches. This accomplishment will allow the company to compete for contracts to launch sensitive reconnaissance and defense satellites for the U.S. government.
Blue Origin will also need to increase its number of launches and reduce the time between them to compete with SpaceX. SpaceX is on pace for between 165 and 170 launches in 2025 alone. While Blue Origin may not be able to achieve that remarkable cadence, to truly build on New Glenns success it will need to show it can scale up its launch operations.
Wendy Whitman Cobb is a professor of strategy and security studies at Air University.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Could the era of the super cheap phone case arriving from China in a week finally be ending? Thanks to a major change to European regulations, it just might.
European Union finance ministers have agreed to impose customs duties on low-value parcels entering the bloc at some point next year, scrapping the long-standing de minimis exemption for goods under 150 (or $175). The move is seen as a way to slow the flood of cheap Chinese imports from platforms such as Shein and Temu. These goods now account for the bulk of the EUs 4.6 billion small parcels a year, more than 90% of which came from China.
The EU’s move follows the U.S. governments decision to destroy its own de minimis waiver for Chinese e-commerce products.
Because companies like Shein and Temu depend on shipping huge volumes of low-value parcels directly from Chinese warehouses to consumers, they will be hit hardest by the EU’s change. Its difficult to see how they will find an easy way around italthough given its coming on the heels of the U.S. doing similar, Im sure they are already working on that, says e-commerce expert Ben Graham.
The regulatory shift will allow e-commerce to be more competitive across all digital channels. As a result, the shift is being presented as a big win for the EU, even if it happens to follow the United States taking a similar approach to small package rules earlier this year under Donald Trump.
Yet while the moves in both countries is aimed at Shein and Temu, it could also wind up harming homegrown companies in both Europe and the U.S. The removal of de minimis rules is reshaping global e-commerce, says Ronald Kleijwegt, CEO at logistics platform Vinturas. EU exporters now face tariffs on low-value items, extra customs paperwork, and higher shipping costs when selling to the U.S.
Kleijwegt says the impact cuts both ways: U.S. small businesses lose access to affordable European goods, while smaller EU firms lose duty-free access to the American market, he explains.
Its not just the infamous de minimis import duty benefit thats in the firing line in Europe: Brussels has also floated a 2 handling fee on every low-value parcel and is pushing member states to stop undeclared packages from slipping through customs. Some individual countries, including Romania and Italy, are already introducing their own national fees while they wait for the EU-wide regime to kick in.
Existential or not?
The question is whether Temu and Shein will face a simple hit to their margins, or an existential threat to their whole business model. Roberto Lobue, partner and retail sector expert at accountancy and business advisory firm Menzies, argues the changes will bite hard and fast. Since the U.S. scrapped its own de minimis duty free limit, the amount of low-value items exported to the U.S. has dropped dramatically, as firms like Shein and Temu focused increasingly on the EU market, he says. With Europe becoming a back door for lower valued goods, the EUs move to accelerate its own reversal next year comes as no surprise.
For Lobue, the end of duty-free thresholds is where the Temu and Shein model starts to crack. Once duties and handling fees apply from the first euro, prices will rise, logistics will get more complex, and Shein and Temu will need to shift to bulk imports, EU warehousing, and stricter customs compliance, he says. The change removes a long-criticized competitive distortion, and will likely dampen the impulse buying that fuels these platforms, as even small added fees can make a big impact.
As prices edge up, he warns, the whole purpose of the two platformsits ultracheap pricesgets weaker. As their prices climb, competitors like Amazon are already moving to capture bargain-hunters, with the launch of its new Haul feature, and others may seek to capitalize, he says.
Julian Skelly, managing partner of retail at Publicis Sapient, thinks Temu and Shein are unlikely to be killed off. But they will have to evolve. They’ve built impressive capabilities around direct-to-consumer logistics and demand sensing; now they’ll need to leverage those strengths differently, he says.
The attempt to hobble the Chinese companies might not have its intended goal. Platforms built on ultra-low-value cross-border shipping are under similar pressure, says Kleijwegt. Both Temu and Shein explored appointing U.S.-based entities or distributors to manage domestic clearance and distribution, but that adds cost and complexity to their operations, he adds.
Kleijwegt points out that the turbulence also exposes a bigger systems problem.
Businesses need systems that can adapt quickly, share information securely, and provide visibility across borders as trade tensions and new rules mount, he says. Stronger connectivity reduces compliance friction, enables companies to respond faster to regulatory change, cuts complexity, and builds the resilience needed to compete in an unpredictable trade environment. This can make the difference between staying competitive in international markets and being shut out.
Beep, beep: Amazon is making a bigger move into the market for used vehicles. The retail giant and Ford Motor Company announced a partnership today which will mean car buyers in three major cities can shop for, finance, and purchase a certified pre-owned Ford vehicle on Amazon Autos.
This new partnership is initially launching in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Dallas, with plans to expand, and will allow customers to complete all steps of the car-buying process online before scheduling a pickup time at a participating dealer and signing the paperwork.
The addition of Ford certified pre-owned vehicles to Amazon Autos represents an exciting expansion of our store, giving customers access to thousands of quality vehicles backed by Ford’s comprehensive inspection and warranty programs, Fan Jin, global leader of Amazon Autos, said in a statement.
This marks the third major partnership that Amazon Autos has struck in the nearly two years since it launched in late 2023. It first began selling new vehicles from South Korean automaker Hyundai and partnered with car rental company Hertz earlier this year to sell used vehicles through Amazon Autos.
As is true with the Hyundai partnership, the Ford dealer is ultimately the seller and handles the pricing, vehicle pickup, and future servicing needs. Amazon Autos merely serves as the facilitator of the online transaction.
USED VEHICLE MARKET
So far, more than 160 Ford franchised dealers have expressed interest in the new Amazon Autos program and about 20 dealers in those three cities are in the process of getting fully onboarded and launched, according to Ford.
Expanding the number of places where consumers can buy a vehicle is also a savvy move for Ford at a time when used car sales have become a bit more sluggish.
An uptick in prices for used vehicles has meant its taken longer for these vehicles to move off a dealers lot. For three-year-old vehicles, selling at more than $31,000 during the third quarter, it took an average of 41 days for these cars to sell, which was the slowest pace for this quarter since 2017, according to data from Edmunds.com.
CARVANA, CARMAX COMPETITION
Now that Amazon Autos will be offering vehicles that are new, certified pre-owned, and from the Hertz rental market fleet, it clearly is making a pretty aggressive move into territory once dominated by Carvana and CarMax. In the first three quarters of the year, Carvana sold more than 433,000 vehicles, compared to a 2024 total of 416,000-plus, according to figures from its quarterly earnings.
Shares of Carvana fell nearly 3% in midday trading on Monday, while CarMax shares were down more than 2%. Meanwhile, Ford shares are trading about 0.7% lower.
This weekend, Ford hosted the grand opening of its new, 2.1 million-square-foot headquarters. The Detroit-based automaker has sought to embrace a new era of innovation after some struggles in recent years. Rather than opt for the direct-to-consumer sales path that Tesla has favored, partnering with Amazon Autos may offer advantages.
Everyone has an Amazon account, Wendy Lane, senior manager of Fords Blue Advantage unit, told Yahoo! Finance. Knowing that it is a trusted source for consumers and having our vehicles listed there, were really excited to see how it works and how well consumers adopt it.
In its early days, the odds seemed good that YouTube was destined for failure. After a false start as a dating website, it wasnt clear whether the company could cover the cost of streaming video content, or avoid the fate of Napster, which was sued out of business for copyright infringement.
But after getting acquired by Google in 2006, and deciding to share ad revenue with creators a year later, YouTube went on not only to survive, but also to revolutionize the entire media ecosystemfrom “double rainbows” to the “Ice Bucket Challenge.” In 2024, YouTube took in $36.3 billion in ad revenue, and today it is the most-watched video provider in the U.S.not just among streamers, but cable and broadcast TV as well.
Fast Company spoke to CEO Neal Mohan and creators like Rebecca Black and Smosh about how YouTube continues to redefine what TV can be.
Jeff Bezos will serve as co-chief executive officer of a new artificial intelligence startup that focuses on AI for engineering and manufacturing of computers, automobiles, and spacecraft, the New York Times reported on Monday.
The company, called Project Prometheus, has garnered $6.2 billion in funding, partly from the Amazon founder, making it one of the most well-financed early-stage startups in the world, the report said, citing three people familiar with the company.
This is the first time Bezos has taken a formal operational role in a company since he stepped down as the CEO of Amazon in July 2021. Though he is involved in Blue Origin, his official title at the space firm is founder.
With the new startup, Bezos is entering a crowded AI market with several smaller firms attempting to break through with new software and products while in a race with industry mainstays such as the Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Meta, and Google.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Bezos and a representative did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Bezos’ co-chief executive is Vik Bajaj, a physicist and chemist who worked closely with Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin at Google’s X, a research effort often called The Moonshot Factory, the report said.
Project Prometheus has already hired nearly 100 employees, including researchers from top AI firms such as OpenAI, DeepMind, and Meta, according to the Times.
Zaheer Kachwala, Reuters
Five students at U.S. military academies and three each from Yale University, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are among the 32 American winners named Sunday as 2026 Rhodes scholars.
The group includes students focused on housing, health outcomes, sustainability, and prison reentry programs. They include:
Alice L. Hall of Philadelphia, a varsity basketball player at MIT who also serves as student body president. Hall, who has collaborated with a womens collective in Ghana on sustainability tools, plans to study engineering.
Sydney E. Barta of Arlington, Virginia, a Paralympian and member of the track team at Stanford University, who studies bioengineering and sings in the Stanford acapella group Counterpoint. Barta plans to study musculoskeletal sciences.
Anirvin Puttur of Gilbert, Arizona, is a senior at the U.S. Air Force Academy who serves as an instructor pilot and flight commander. Puttur, who is studying aeronautical engineering and applied mathematics, also has a deep interest in linguistics and is proficient in four languages.
The students will attend the University of Oxford as part of the Rhodes scholar program, which awards more than 100 scholarships worldwide each year for students to pursue two to three years of graduate studies.
Named after British imperialist and benefactor Cecil John Rhodes, the scholarship was established at Oxford in 1903. The program has more than 8,000 alumni, many of whom have pursued careers in government, education, the arts, and social justice.
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When I recently reached out to Moodys Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi for his updated home price forecast, he said his long-term outlook for the U.S. housing market remains largely unchanged: he expects a prolonged period of stagnation as affordability gradually improves.
Following the historic run-up in prices during the Pandemic Housing Boom and the subsequent mortgage rate shock, Zandi believes resale activity/existing home sales will likely stay frozen for several more years.
Affordability has to be restored for housing to regain its mojo, Zandi told ResiClub. Flat home prices [adjusted for inflation] is the healthiest path forwardits the only way for incomes to catch up.
Zandi expects nominal national home prices to move sideways over the next 12 to 24 months, with local variation: markets in the South and West, where building has been stronger, seeing some modest declines, while tight-inventory markets in the Northeast and Midwest remain more stable.
The worst of the pain in the housing market might be now and in the next six to nine months. After that, things will begin to feel a little betterbut not good, Zandi said. The housing market will heal . . . but its going to take timeand a lot of patience.
Over the next decade, Zandi projects U.S. home prices will rise roughly in line with inflation, meaning no real [adjusted for inflation] house price gains for around 10 years.
While Zandis team at Moodys Analytics expects U.S. home prices not to rise on a real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) basis, the firm is forecasting that nominal U.S. home prices will increase +23.5% between December 2025 and December 2035.
(Note: Real home prices are adjusted for inflation, and nominal home prices are not adjusted for inflation. All the charts below are forecasts for nominal home prices.)
In the chart above, you can see where Moodys latest forecasts would take U.S. home prices by the end of 2035and in the chart below, how the forecasted annual gains compare to the historical performance of the asset class.
Moodys forecast for annual home price changes:
2026 > +0.48%
2027 > +1.35%
2028 > +2.39%
2029 > +2.78%
2030 > +2.86%
2031 > +2.71%
2032 > +2.44%
2033 > +2.18%
2034 > +2.05%
2035 > +2.08%
Outside of affordabilitythe primary headwind Zandi believes is restraining real home prices and the broader housing markethe also highlighted additional challenges: a restrictive immigration environment that could limit the future construction labor force, particularly in the South and West, and elevated long-term Treasury yields connected to long-term fiscal risks.
He said the latter could keep mortgage rates closer to 6.0% than 5.5%which had been his previous long-term outlook for the average 30-year fixed mortgage ratefor the foreseeable future.
How does Moodys forecast vary by market? Check out the interactive below.
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Financial forecasts looking out even one year often struggle to get it rightlet alone those stretching out a full decade. So with any forecast like this, its best to approach it with some skepticism, or at least avoid treating it as a certain destiny.
Whether or not the exact numbers play out, Moodys broader message is clear: The firm doesnt expect a 2008-style housing crash or another explosive housing boom in the coming years. Instead, it anticipates the housing market will continue to gradually recalibrate following the historic Pandemic Housing Boom.
Is Bitcoin biting the dust?
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency (BTC) has seen its value drop significantly from highs earlier this year as it has struggled to shake off a price decline that began in early October.
As of Monday morning, the price of one BTC was around $94,000, which is down almost 8% over the past five days and down 14% over the past month.
Notably, the token is now roughly flat since the beginning of the yearmeaning it’s given back all of the value it gained earlier in 2025, having topped out at slightly more than $124,000 in October.
The downturn started in early October, and since then, Bitcoin is down roughly 32%, putting it firmly in bear market territory.
Other cryptocurrencies are following suit. The CoinDesk 20, a crypto market index, is down around 16% over the past week, roughly matching Bitcoins decline.
The sell-off, it appears, is being driven by investors, including institutional investors, who are cashing out, combined with weak sentiment and broader economic concerns.
The selloff is a confluence of profit-taking by LTHs, institutional outflows, macro uncertainty, and leveraged longs getting wiped out, Jake Kennis, senior research analyst at Nansen, told CoinDesk. What is clear is that the market has temporarily chosen a downward direction after a long period of consolidation/ranging.
Bitcoins death cross
While values are down, something else is catching the attention of traders as they watch the falling charts: Bitcoin experienced a dreaded death cross on Sunday, further fueling the markets fears of a prolonged downturn.
A death cross is a market signal used by traders who conduct technical analyses (in other words, they scour charts for indicators and signals). It occurs when an assets short-term price momentum or moving average falls below its longer-term trends or moving average.
Plotted on a chart, the asset’s priceBitcoin being the asset hereappears to cross. In this case, the cross occurred at the $94,000 mark, as Bitcoin had previously eclipsed that price way back in March.
The fear is that the death cross could signal that Bitcoin is in for a broader collapsehence the death portion of the cross. But it’s important to note that such a decline is not a given, and Bitcoin could still rebound in a relatively short period.
Benjamin Cowen, a crypto market analyst and data scientist who founded Into the Cryptoverse, posted on X Sunday that prior death crosses marked local lows in the market, and that the time for Bitcoin to bounce if the cycle is not over would be starting within the next week.
When Jennifer Austin met Molly in second grade, they quickly became best friends. They giggled through classes until the teacher separated them, inspiring them to come up with their own language. They shared sleepovers and went on each other’s family vacations.
But they gradually drifted apart after Austin’s family moved to Germany before the girls started high school. Decades passed before they recently reconnected as grown women.
Strong friendships really do stay for the long haul,” Austin, 51, said. “Even if there are pauses in between and they fade, that doesnt mean they completely dissolve or they go forgotten. Theyre always there kind of lingering like a little light in the back.
Early friendships are some of the deepest: the schoolmates who shared bike rides and their favorite candy. The roommates who offered comfort after breakups. The ones who know us, sometimes better than we know ourselves.
But as adults take on jobs and the responsibilities of homes and families, it can be challenging to stay connected with everyone we’ve loved.
Technology plays a role, too. Loneliness has increased since the television was invented and intensified with the introduction of smartphones, according to psychologist Marisa Franco, a University of Maryland assistant clinical professor and author of Platonic, a book about the science of attachment.
Once they’ve lost touch with friends, some people are reluctant to reach out, fearing rejection. But most of those on the receiving end appreciate the effort more than we expect, Franco said.
People are delighted to hear from their old friends and open to connections, she said.
Franco suggests reminiscing about a shared memory to span the time and distance. It can be something as simple as, “This pic came up and I just realized I wanted to check in on you, she said. Propose a meetup. If the friend lives far away, try scheduling a phone date to catch up.
Below, six people who tried to rekindle lost friendships reflect on distance, loss, and reconnection.
A missing piece
Heather Robb and Laine DiPasquantonio were nearly inseparable in their 20s, when they both lived in Boston. They went to concerts and vacationed together. DiPasquantonio was there when Robb met her future husband and attended their wedding as a bridesmaid.
But sometime after Robb married and DiPasquantonio moved to Colorado, their circle of friends scattered. They became busy raising children, juggling jobs, and caring for aging parents.
Its terrible because you dont know its happening, Robb, 60, said in a joint interview. I think it was simply space and time. We were all in different cities, we were all in that busy time of toddlers.
Years passed with occasional holiday cards and texts but few meaningful interactions. DiPasquantonio saw photos on social media of Robb skiing and traveling with other friends. I wasnt sure there was so much room for me, from a distance, she said.
Aww, I feel badly about that, Robb replied. I would argue that’s the bad side of social media.
The women found their way back to each other when Robb, president of Heather Robb Communications, had a business trip to Denver in April. She called to see if DiPasquantonio wanted to get dinner. I didnt know if she was going to be that happy to hear from me. I actually had some trepidation in reaching out,” Robb said.
When she did, Robb learned her friend was about to undergo surgery for breast cancer. Instead of meeting for dinner, DiPasquantonio, a placement specialist at Harmony Senior Referrals, invited Robb to stay for the weekend. A mutual friend flew out to join them.
I was so tickled that you called and wanted to get together. It was awesome, DiPasquantonio, 63, said during their interview. What took us so long, right?
They’ve remained close since.
It just feels so good. It feels like there was a missing piece, Robb said.
Just do it
Reyna Dominguez, 18, had the same best friend since first grade. But when Dominguez moved from Long Island to Brooklyn, her friend began college. Dominguez started working in a salon and their schedules didn’t align. About six months passed without communication.
After graduating from cosmetology school, Dominguez texted her friend to share the news.
I was a bit anxious that she was not going to respond. But she did, and I was so relieved and happy, Dominguez said.
Now they’re in touch about once a month and planning to get together.
Its important to stay in touch because sometimes I do get lonely, like I have no one to really talk to, Dominguez said. “But with her, she knows all about my life.”
Dominguez encourages anyone considering reaching out to an old friend to go ahead. I say just do it. You have nothing to lose, she said. I guess the worst they could do is not respond to you, but I feel like youll still be happy with the thought, I tried.
Staying close
Andrew Snyders best friend since 5th grade lives a plane ride away, but that hasnt stopped them from keeping in touch. They call or email each other at least once a month and see each other several times per year.
At key points in their lives, they’ve visited each others’ homes so when we talk about things, we actually can understand,” said Snyder, 50, who teaches philosophy and economics in New York City.
Living in different cities means it requires work to stay connected, but it’s important to Snyder, who feels that friendships are thinning out as people spend more time looking at cellphone screens.
Friendship and cooking your own food, and exercising and being outside, these are the things that used to be real life, and now I think theyre all fading, Snyder said. I dont think the real issue is time anymore. I think the real issue is a sense of overwhelm and a sense of depletion that we all feel.
No regrets
Kim Ventresca, 22, drifted from her best friend while attending college. She reached out a few times and they reconnected when the friend was having a rough time. But they stopped talking again when Ventresca was going through mental health and relationship challenges. Eventually, the other young woman told Ventresca she no longer wanted to be friends.
Ive got some new friends now, and I feel like its probably better because some things happen for a reason, she said. Im hoping that shes alright and that she is doing OK.
Ventresca, who works as a social media manager and receptionist in New Jersey, said she stll recommends reaching out to missed friends, even if it’s awkward.
The worst thing that happens is you get ‘left on read’ or delivered or declined, she said.
Secret language
After Austin’s family moved to Germany, she didn’t see her childhood best friend again for 20 years, through a chance meeting on a New York City subway platform. They reconnected briefly, but contact lapsed again.
Molly’s 2021 visit with one of her children to a college near Austin’s home provided another chance to restore the friendship. Theyve remained close since.
Something at that point just shifted,” Austin, owner of KindPoint Communications, said. “Things really picked up and we just basically outright said, Lets just keep this momentum going. Lets not wait another 20 years.’
Cathy Bussewitz, The Associated Press
Send your wellness questions and story ideas to cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow APs Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet, and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well.
