If you've had a friendship go sour unexpectedly, this post is for you.
Friendships. They're some of the most important parts of our lives. Friends are there for you when you're down, they're there to consult with when you need someone to listen to you or give you advice, and they're right beside you to celebrate your successes when times are good. Or, at least, they should be. But sometimes, for whatever reason, friendships just don't work out. The friend you thought you had turned out to not be the woman (or man) you thought they were. Maybe you have a falling out or maybe she just falls off the face of the planet and never calls or texts you back. Maybe she doesn't show up for a planned hang out. Whatever the case, this post is all about when your friend isn't whom you thought she was.
My first experience with this was in high school. I was friendly, outgoing, had my own car and in my junior year, basically had my own house as my mom started to date her now husband and was constantly at his place, which was clear on the other side of town. Suddenly, I had people calling me to hang out all. the. time. Don't have any plans on a Friday night? Hey, let's go over to Paige's house! It was a blast. Until my mom found out, made me move an hour away from my high school, and sold the house. I commuted that hour to school every day for my senior year, but it was amazing how it was like I had fallen off a cliff to people. Oh, Paige no longer has a place for us all to hang? Meh. See I thought they were my friends, and some truly were, but most were just using me for a parent-free place to hang out, and when that went away, they went to leech off the next person who could offer them something.
As an adult, things got a little deeper. It isn't just about superficial friends who want a place to sneak alcohol or make out with their boyfriend. It's personal.
One of the most shocking soured friendships I've had was an older work colleague of mine. I looked at her as a mentor. I first met her when I was an intern at my first job out of college. We took to each other right away! We'd grab coffee and talk about life and work and education. She wrote me an amazing letter of recommendation to get into grad school. She was the reason I got a promotion just 7 months after being hired full time. We stayed in touch casually even when I moved to the east coast, and then grabbed happy hours after I moved back to Minneapolis for a different job. When I moved to Texas for my fiance's job, things got weird.
I remember there must have been a big storm that hit Minneapolis, and everyone took to Facebook to complain about it. It made me notice, people in Minnesota complain a lot. About a lot of things. I mentioned this realization on my personal Facebook account, and of course was met with equal amounts of people being amused and defensive. My mentor friend of close to 10 years took it to the next level. She wrote me a message of how entitled I was, and only cared about material things, and was basically a huge jerk. I had no idea where this came from! I was shocked. I was hurt. I thought we would be friends for life. Instead, I got a nasty message on Facebook and was defriended. I still haven't talked to this woman since. I still have no idea what that outburst was about. I now know it was more reflective of her, though. It wasn't about me. Outbursts like that are always about the person making them, not about you or even your friendship.
One of the most surprising times a friend wasn't whom I thought she was involved one of my first few friends made through blogging. We'd text each other regularly, bounce blogging ideas off each other, talk business opportunities, talk fashion and talk baby making. She was one of the first to know I was pregnant with Otto, and I sent her "baby dust" for over a year, as she and her husband were trying to get pregnant.
We live half way across the country from each other, but there were two times we were in the same city - even at the same hotel - and never met up. Not because I didn't want to. Because she'd flake out. The first time was happenstance. I had accompanied my husband on a work trip and she was on her bachelorette. It just so happened that both were happening at the same hotel. Every time I texted her to meet up, she'd go radio silent. I wasn't that hurt over that first time. Heck, she was on her bachelorette and I had my own agenda with my husband and some of his colleague's wives. It didn't happen and I got over it immediately.
The second time, however, was absurd. A group of bloggers decided to all get together in her hometown. Another blogger and myself had to secure childcare, which meant our husbands had to take PTO in order for us to get some time away! Flights were bought. Pitches were made to local brands to get things for free. Plans were made. And yet again, she went totally radio silent. But not just when we were in town. Well before that. She stopped commenting on all our blogs and stopped engaging with us on Instagram. It was almost as soon as we had a group plan, she wasn't interested in us anymore.
One of the other bloggers called her out. Privately, in a group DM we had on Instagram. She basically said hey, if you're not interested in hanging out with us, that's fine, but please leave the group. We all flew to your city to hang out with you, and you stood us up. It was at that point that she went through and blocked this whole blogger group from all of her social media accounts. She and I were personal friends on Facebook, and she blocked me too. I get that some people aren't good at confrontation. But it was a shock to find out (while I was on a flight home, no less!) that instead of replying back or giving a reason for going MIA on all of us, her knee jerk reaction was to just block us all. That's what hurt: I was probably the one she was closest to in the group, and she didn't even reach out to me. She just outright blocked me. Turns out, she wasn't at all whom I thought she was.
Friends are going to come and go, and people are going to disappoint you in life. Sometimes you'll be able to let them go without any hurt feelings on your end. But sometimes, it's really going to sting that a friend you thought you knew well and cared for just wasn't the person you thought. The surprise will come out of left field and slap you in the face. My best advice is to let it. Be shocked. Let it sting. Then learn from it, and move on. It doesn't mean that ALL people aren't trustworthy and it doesn't mean that you won't make new friends. It just means that one friend wasn't whom you thought she was.