Friends...

This post might end up being a little closer to the heart. Just a warning.

How and why do friendships just end? That is what I've been thinking about this morning. Yes, I know we grow up, move away, and life takes us in different directions. I know that, and I've been told that before.

But what about those friendships you thought would never end? People who you thought would always be in your life. People who you absolutely saw being at your wedding (not that I'm getting married anytime soon). People you spent extended amount of time with, and opened your heart to. Only to have them not respond to your texts, calls, or facebook messages. So, that time together might have been a couple years ago, but they were still people I trusted, looked up to, and valued their opinion.

We don't have to talk everyday, and life takes us different places so that we don't see each other as often, but do we really just ignore one another?

There are some friends that I can not talk to for awhile, but they can brighten my day with a simple text, or will leave me a comment on facebook and it brings a smile to my face. Why can't all friendships be like that?

Have we forgotten the times the good and the hard, that we spent together? Do you not remember sweating, laughing, crying, and praying together? The times that we thought tlife couldn't get any better, or even any worse.

So when friendships do end, what do I do? How do I deal with the hurt?

Yes, I've made new friends, but they were not to replace to old ones, but merely to build my community.

It's almost like grieving a loss. I guess I have to give myself time to hurt and "mourn" before I try to move on. Sometimes I want to act tough, like nothing really matters, and it doesn't hurt. But if I'm honest, it hurts to not talk to people who played such big roles in my life. It is nto fun to be ignored or to feel forgotten.

Now don't misunderstand and think I don't have any friends. I do, many great friends who are here now, or would be here in an instant if I needed them. Friends who have and still do sit with me when I cry, who give me an encouraging word, who pray for me all the time, and who skype with me even when the internet connection stinks and we have to type to communicate, but it's worth it to just see one another's face.

I have incredible friends, but that doesn't mean I don't miss the ones I've "lost."