Sometimes, not all relationships are meant to last. That is just a cold, hard truth about life.
You can be best, BEST, BEST friends with someone for decades, and then one day you suddenly become strangers.
And in many instances, there is no clear answer as to why. It's sad but it is what it is. Of course, that doesn't make the pain any easier to deal with. Moving on is all we can do.
Hopefully, when everyone parts ways they can at least look back fondly and not with pain or malice.
Some relationships end with blatant betrayal and misery.
The difficult part with these kinds of endings is trying not to exact revenge.
Don't wrong me! It won't be a pretty outcome.
Redditor Salamander-One wanted to hear about the friendships that never made it to forever, so they asked:
"Why did you and your best friend stop talking?"
That hurt
"She invited a friend I had introduced her to to her wedding but didn’t invite me. That hurt."
- HorseFeathersFur
"I had three friends I considered close, and they all got married during Covid lockdowns, and none of them told me in advance. Found out from the internet they got married. I get they did small weddings, and I didn’t expect to be invited per se, but the fact they didn’t even tell me really kind of stung."
"Like, I didn’t even get a chance with anyone I knew well to be in a wedding party, so now that’s just something I’ll never experience, I guess. Also makes it awkward when I think about possibly getting married but having no close friends I’d even want to invite since I realized they didn’t see me at all in the same way I saw them."
- Counterboudd
EVIL
"He committed a crime, pinned it on me, and I went to prison for it. It took some time to prove it was him, and I was immediately released, and he is in prison now."
"We were best friends for 13 years, so huge trust issues followed."
- FionaFroze
I Did A Thing GIFGiphy
Me First
"I stopped texting first."
- junosaurrrk
"About 3 years ago, I decided I wouldn’t text anyone in my contacts until they first texted. Then I was faced with the sad reality that most of the people I thought were my friends didn’t care about me at all. But the person I’ve always considered my best friend texted me about 2 days in asking why I haven’t been texting. So that was nice."
- OldBrokeGrouch
Money Changes Everything
"1- Because I paid her husband's auto shop to replace my radiator, and the techs failed to put fluids back in my car. A new radiator exploded, far from home and even further from the auto shop. They refused to fix the problems, so I complained to the corporate office and my husband got in trouble and lost bonuses. So bestie was not allowed to speak to me anymore."
"2- Another bestie's boyfriend wanted to advertise his tree services in my yard. I was ok with it, but the landscaping company my landlord paid was not, and they removed the sign without telling me. I was accused of sabotaging the boyfriend's business."
"Glad to be free of the drama."
- Tinkertailorartist
That's Life
"We went to different colleges and created new friend groups. Nothing traumatic, just life."
- halfwaytosomewhere
"Same here. They still mean a ton and if they were in need, I'd help in an instant, we just don't 'talk' anymore unless we bump into each other at the store or something. Always say 'We should get together one of these days' but just never winds up happening."
- Montooth
"This happens to everyone. I had a core group of friends from middle school all the way to finishing high school. When we went off to college, I retained 2 of them, and the rest vanished. That's how life works and it's unfortunate."
- xanot192
Thank You
"I grew tired of being taken advantage of and taken for granted. Without ever getting a 'thank you' for everything I did for them. We were best friends for 17 years. I ended that friendship, I deleted their number and deleted them off my social media accounts. A weight was lifted off my shoulders when I ended that friendship. We haven't talked for 3 years and will continue to do so. What they do, is none of my concern anymore, nor has it been."
- EnigmaNero
Bad Idea
"He's a drug dealer, and I used to be addicted to drugs."
"Sounds like a horrible idea really."
- MyLifeIsJustInsane
"I'm really glad you said, 'used to.' Congrats to you man, it's not an easy journey and unfortunately not everyone is able to make it out of it, so well done on being sober. And also on being mature enough to choose the best path forward and avoid people who could trigger/coerce you into making a bad decision. Wish ya the best man."
- The_Tacos
Oscar
"Being a dog, he never had much to say. He did have a way of showing his love. I miss you, Oscar."
- bigghimself
Go Rest In Back in 2022
"I gotta be honest, I don’t know the answer, and it’s been haunting me for years. She cut off contact with me back in 2022 and suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth—not just me, but literally everyone who knew her in our friend group and even her acquaintances in the city, it’s something we talk about from time to time."
"The only reason I’m assured she’s alive and well is because our families still talk, her mom has given a few updates but largely keeps it hush hush too. She’s active on social media and kept all the pictures of us together, plus her profile picture is still one I took of her many years ago."
"I don’t understand what happened and it’s messed me up pretty bad, this girl was my whole world, and losing her was really hard. I tried getting back in touch but she won’t respond, since I’m extremely non-confrontational I’ve given up. Probably the biggest mystery of my life and I’d do anything to know why."
- GlumConversation8967
Bye Mike
"Mike and I used to love debating political s**t, but as I got older, I stopped wanting to do it for a lot of reasons. He discovered that he could win by not being honest. I started by changing the subject or saying that I don't feel like getting into it tonight or that we can talk about it later."
"He never got the hint and started calling me drunk late at night, hollering about people taking over the country and the downfall of America, and that I need to agree with him, and it went from putting it off to just not answering the phone, to asking him to stop calling me."
"Sad. I knew the dude for 20 years, I just couldn't keep up the energy he had, I had way bigger fish to fry."
- Beginning_Cry_5531
MONTHS
"Stopped reading/answering my messages for MONTHS, more than once, for years. I don't require constant communication and I've had a lot of patience over this as I know she's going through some s**t but I feel like I can't trust her anymore, what is friendship if you can't even hold a conversation?"
- MountainDog22
"Basically the same, we would only start talking again if I reached out, and then we would be best friends for a while again before he would suddenly ghost. He literally did this once when we lived in the same complex for 9 months (but not the same apartment)."
- poopbutt42069yeehaw
Still Stings
"Because she got married and moved and we both changed. No bad blood at all. Just growth in different directions. Took me a few years to get over it."
- Apart-Ad2714
Seth Meyers Lol GIF by Late Night with Seth MeyersGiphy
Mikey from 3rd
"I grew up. He didn't."
"He's a flat earther, born again, and fixated on people and memories from high school when we graduated like 20 years ago. 'Hey, remember when Mikey from 3rd period dropped his pencil, and he farted when he grabbed it?"
"Hey, remember when that one hot girl from geology, whose name I can't remember, asked me for a listerine strip? Yeah, she was into me."
"Just slowly became a bummer to hang out with and had to cut ties."
- thevyrd
Out of the Blue
"We were friends. We decided we wanted more. He decided out of the blue that after we had just started to fall in love, he just wanted to be friends. He was my Best friend. I was devastated; I needed some time to process that. He said let’s take a few days."
"We went no contact. I thought it would be like 2/3 days he ghosted me for half a year. Then popped up in my life and our friend's lives like nothing had happened. We made plans to have a chat on a Friday. I never heard from him again."
"I don’t ever think I’ll ever find a friend like that who made me feel so comfortable in my own skin ever again. I still am in disbelief that I lost my love and my bff in one breath."
- PufffPufffGive
Moving On
"He stopped responding, which he does every once in a while, just won’t respond. Instead of reaching out after a few months in which we would be best friends again and text and game when we could, I just let it slip. He reached out after 6 months and apologized, I forgave him immediately and then went back to ignoring me. It sucks but I've stopped investing in people who won’t invest in me."
- poopbutt42069yeehaw
Enough Already
"He just brings politics into every single discussion. At one point, it gets so tiring and irritating."
For example, last time I asked, 'Would you like to go cycling this Sunday morning?' He was like, the govt is so bad that everything is expensive blah blah. So I stopped contacting him, and now we barely meet."
- yourhornydaddyiam
Joe Biden Shut Up GIF by Election 2020Giphy
The end of a friendship can be the end of an era.
(Taylor would be so sad at that pun.)
But like Tay-Tay's massive tour, all eras come to an end.
And we continue on to new beginnings.
There are new friends to be made.
Saying farewell to someone is often the only option.
@DogRightGirl/X
