The death of a friendship...

I am constantly learning things about life, and sometimes hard lessons are learned about friendships.  Recently I had to end a friendship, unfortunately the friendship had been on life-support for a few years and neither party made any heroic efforts to revive it…. 

Which brings me to the point of my post… Expiration dates! Not like spoiled milk, or moldy cheese... But let's be honest- when they expire; they can leave a bad taste in your mouth. 

 There are some who believe every friendship in your life has a “shelf-life.”   

Reason, Season, or Lifetime.

The “reason” friendships are the friendships who are in your life to teach you something or get you through something- just as you may be in their life to teach them something or get them through something.  These friends are not meant to be lifetimes, they’re meant to be there and then gone just as quickly as they arrived.  Cherish them, and respect them for what they are. Don’t try to push them into another category, one or both of you will end up with hurt feelings.

The “season” friendships are similar to the reason, but with no teachable moments.  Enjoy the hell out of those for what they are. Love hard because they won’t be in your world forever.  Again, don’t try to force them into lifetimes either.  If there is a lesson to be learned it’s that nothing lasts forever.

Lifetimes, some of us are lucky enough to have more than a few of these.  I am one of those lucky ones. I have some friends that as soon as we met; we knew we’d be together forever.  No matter where life takes us, we always pick up right where we left off, and even if it’s been a year or so since we’ve spoken… We get on the phone and it’s like not a minute has gone by.  Cherish these weirdos.  They are such a blessing!

No matter what the lifespan of the friendship, if it ends, try to end it with the respect and love in which it began.