I was thinking about my friend Helen today. Well, no. I was thinking about Helen, who I thought was my friend. Who once upon a time may have been a friend. She's not my friend now.
You may think we had some major argument, that she or I did something terrible to the other. You'd be wrong - she just changed jobs.
When we worked together she would chat to me about how crap her life was, and I would offer her sympathy, a non-judging ear. I'd tell her how great she was, I would bolster her confidence in herself and make her feel positive about her world. I was a shoulder to cry on, and a solid dependable rock to lean on. I really thought I made a difference in her life. That the years we knew each other were good times.
Then she left her job to pursue another career.
She dropped me from her Facebook friends. She ignored my emails and texts.
Fearing I'd done something terribly wrong to her without knowing I emailed and asked what it was? What had I done that cut her off from me?
She replied. Nothing. She was just really busy. Of course she'd add me back on Facebook. Of course we were still friends.
And that, I'm afraid to say, was the last I ever heard from Helen.
Friends come and friends go. Each friendship brings something with it and takes something away. They alter our lives, guide us on our way through life. They hold our hand when we're scared, teach us when we need to learn, salve us when we're hurt. Usually they're mutual, a symbiotic relationship. Usually.
I have only learned one thing from knowing Helen. She was no friend.
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