fading much more swiftly now

It sucks to feel like you're not needed anymore.
I think thats one of the hardest things about life, for me anyways. People grow older and move on, and they don't seem to find your friendship, or whatever it was, as important as they used to. And so, they drop it, or forget it and neglect it until nothing is really left.
There are always those people that you will stay friends with for life - maybe not the best of friends, but if they called you and said "I need you to be here now," you'd do whatever it took to get there.
But it still sucks, to feel that connection fade.