Thank you, Polly. When you see your truth written down, it suddenly joins your soul to others. To a few, I am a great friend, to others I’m just a friend. What the letter didn’t mention was how social were they all day at work. I work with 2 giant departments in our company, I’m talking to people all day, after being there many years, there is a friend component that develops naturally. It gives me a feeling of friendship and of socializing pretty much all day. I just need to come home and be quiet or watch tv with my husband — who works at home and has the exact opposite of my day. I struggle just socializing with him, much less making plans with someone else! I lost a friend a few years ago because of this. We had been friends for years, had even gone to Europe together, in between marriages, but when I remarried everything changed. She grew frustrated with me and disappeared. In a nutshell, she needed more from me than I wanted to give. She had every right to opt out, and I didn’t blame her at all. But, we have to accept this as a consequence when we trim our live-and-in-person social life.
