The Pain of Losing a Friend

There are all kinds of loss, and at least a million kinds of grief to accompany those losses.
One loss that can be complicated and sad is that of a friendship. Sometimes that which sustained us, and was a source of love and strength slowly mutates into something toxic and draining. We all know there are a lot of reasons and ways for a friendship to go so sideways that the only choice is to let go.
But a friendship loss can be a particularly messy one. You may still see that person, or have acquaintances in common. There is no service, no stone to visit. And there can be the lingering and painful question of just exactly what went wrong.
I encourage you to give yourself permission to grieve the end of a friendship in the same way I encourage you to make space for all the accompanying emotion around any kind of loss. Be kind to yourself, acknowledge the sweetness of what once was, and reaffirm that there is good reason for moving into a new space in your life. (Originally posted-07/13/18)