Did any of you cut back on sugar as a New Year’s resolution? If so, have you noticed how very sweet fruits like apples suddenly taste?
I have a raw, personal story to share.
An old friend “broke up” with me recently. She moved away some time ago and I worked hard, too hard to keep up with her. Pushing was a big mistake. She blew up on me. And now I have emotional road rash.
When a relationship shatters, apologies might not be enough. An apology will only work if the other person is willing to entertain it.
Being the one left holding the bag is disheartening, gut wrenching and sometimes haunting.
If you’ve been through deep rejection in a relationship at home or at work, I can relate painfully to your experience.
One small silver lining I’m finding is that I’m deeply touched by my other close friends and colleagues.
Their passing compliments light me up and leave an unusually sweet taste in my mouth- like a surprisingly good apple.
I recently lost an old friend whom I’ll call Laura. She moved away some time ago and I worked hard, too hard to keep up with her. Pushing was a big mistake. She blew up on me. And now I have emotional road rash. Ours was a “perfect storm” of bad events and miscommunication:
About a year after she moved out of state, Laura apparently decided that she wanted to “Unsubscribe” from our friendship.
That might not have been too bad, except that…
I didn’t get the memo and I’m very persistent. I kept calling and texting. I even looked up her new phone number, not knowing that I’d been ghosted. I didn’t realize it, but in reaching for the sweet honey of friendship, I was sticking my hand into a beehive.
That might not have been too bad, except that…
Not reaching her, I texted to ask her grown son and her mother if she had changed her number.
That might not have been too bad, except that…
Not getting a reply from either of them, I looked online and found a different number for her mom. “Of course- that’s why her mom hadn’t replied to me with Laura’s new number, I naively thought.”
That might not have been too bad, except that…
Laura’s mom is divorced and my message actually went to Laura’s ex-step-father.
That might not have been too bad, except that…
Apparently, he is a hateful man and Laura might want to back up a dump truck over him.
That might not be too bad for me, except that…
She backed up her dump truck in my direction. Her nastygram email wound down with this irate line:
“No apology expected or necessary and none will be accepted.”
Ouch. That really stung.