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Would you apologise and become friends again?

18 replies

MrsSparkle · 21/03/2011 19:59

Quick background, i met a friend, lets call her sally for this thread, at under 1s when our dds were babies in 2007. Me, her and another friend (who i went to school with) became good friends and started meeting every week at various places.

Sally got married in 2008 and i made her wedding cake. I had my ds in Jan 09 and Sally had her dd in March 09.

Things started to become unsettled when we were pregnant because Sally became abit besotted by me (that is the only word that can descibe it) meaning she started copying me and buying the same things as me etc. I thought it was a bit weird but egnored it.

At the same time, Sally became distant with our other friend. The reason is still unknown. Our other friend had a dd in March 2010.

Then last year Sally started lying to us about things and became unreliable. She would say she would meet at the paddling pool for instance then wouldn't show, or would text at the last minute to cancel.

She became unbearable, lying over everything, not making any sense. She became so distant to our friend, i think she saw her about 3 times after our friend had her 2nd dd.

The last straw was when she didn't turn up to my wedding in December. We hadn't fallen out and she said she was coming. She sent me a message at 11.30pm on the wedding night to say sorry she couldn't make it - she was snowed in. It was nonsense.

I was very hurt by this and decided to end our friendship. I didn't want to speak to her because i was hurt so i wrote her a letter explaining why.

About a month later, she tried to contact me (on my ds's birthday) to say happy birthday to ds and that she was sorry. I egnored this.

Then another month later in February, she contacted me again to say sorry. This time i responded and said i wanted the real reason why she didn't come to my wedding. She told me the real reason was she got the day wrong. She said she thought it was a Saturday wedding and when she realised it was a Friday wedding she felt really stupid (she is quite ditsy) and made up the excuse she was snowed in. She asked if we could meet up but i still felt annoyed with her so declined.

Then a few weeks later i had found out she had stood up a friend and hadn't returned something borrowed from another friend and i snapped. I sent her a really shitty message (very mature i know) which expressed my anger at her. She replied with lots of f offs etc and that was that.

Then yesterday i ran into her mum whilst she was walking her dogs. Her mum was so nice to me and just said Sally had a bad year last year and had taken too much on etc.

Now i feel confused. Part of me thinks purhaps i was so wrapped up in thinking Sally was being a bad friend last year by the way she was with people when actually, if she was having a hard time, i should have been there for her as a friend and seen something was wrong.

I don't know whether to get forget it or to appologise to her for the horrible message or what?

I need a nutrual voice on this.

OP posts:
ScarlettWalking · 21/03/2011 20:03

Gosh it all sounds like a lot of hard work doesn't it?

Friendships are meant to be fun you know. All this drama is not healthy.

bibbitybobbityhat · 21/03/2011 20:07

Did you actually talk when she made contact after your wedding, or was it all done by text message and email?

It sounds as though Sally has had a bad year. You don't have to be friends with her in the future, but I think it would be nice if you could meet for a chat and put it all to bed.

MrsSparkle · 21/03/2011 20:12

No i haven't spoken to her after the wedding other then via email.

I know that if i was to be her friend again i would have to put it all behind me and not mention it again.

OP posts:
slartybartfast · 21/03/2011 20:16

di you like her/?
can you let bygones by bygones or is she not worth it?

bibbitybobbityhat · 21/03/2011 20:18

Do you miss her as a friend or is it a bit of a relief not to have to see her?

MrsSparkle · 21/03/2011 20:18

I like how our friendship was before. I guess because i haven't got very many friends and it takes me years to make a new one, i am trying to cling on?

OP posts:
TheProvincialLady · 21/03/2011 20:20

I would leave it now. Neither of you are gong to be able to forget those horrible messages, and it sounds like this friendship has run its course. If you were really good friends like you thought, she would have at least inidicated that she was gong through a rough patch.

slartybartfast · 21/03/2011 20:21

you have to give and take. remember no one is perfect and you both need friends.

MrsSparkle · 21/03/2011 20:28

I find it hard to let go tbh

OP posts:
MardyBra · 21/03/2011 20:29

I had a friend who was similar - turned out she was an alcoholic.

babyapplejack · 21/03/2011 20:31

I would leave it. I can sometimes understand the need for a white lie but she seems to lie too much and I hate that sort of behaviour.

BluddyMoFo · 21/03/2011 20:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cupofteaplease · 21/03/2011 20:39

'Then a few weeks later i had found out she had stood up a friend and hadn't returned something borrowed from another friend and i snapped. I sent her a really shitty message (very mature i know) which expressed my anger at her. She replied with lots of f offs etc and that was that.'

I don't really understand why you text her because you'd heard she had done things to other people? I think you were unreasonable to send her a 'shitty' message here.

If she has had a bad year, she probably needs a support network more than anything. If you still feel angry/hurt/let down by her, you probably aren't the right person to support her, so for her sake, it's probably best to let the friendship go.

Casmama · 21/03/2011 20:39

I would drop her a note saying that you bumbped into her mum and it got you to thinking about her, you feel bad about the way your friendship ended and you apologise for the message you sent. End with you hope she is happy/well and leave it at that. This way you open the door if she has had a hard time and wants to explain her side of things but if she doesn't it just lays the past to rest so that it would not be so awkward if you were to bump into each other.

LionRock · 21/03/2011 20:43

It sounds like she's had a genuine reason to be distracted and unreliable and also, that you miss her. If so, could you arrange to meet in person and give her a chance? I get the impression that you may not be happy yourself unless you give her one last shot.

I have a friend who is very ditsy / unreliable. She frequently forgets or gets mixed up with arrangements. Thanksfully I don't arrange to meet her on my own, there's three of us so at least two meet up. It can be very annoying but she genuinely doesn't mean anything by it and since she's now mid-forties, she's unlikely to change. I have managed to just accept it as a part of her but it can be annoying. So, for all the stuff about missing your wedding etc, I do know someone who would do exactly the same. (She has turned up at the airport with out of date passports etc, it's nothing personal!) Can you accept that she is unreliable or that she was distracted by other stuff in her life? If she was having a bad year I can see why she'd keep quiet about it, I would do this myself and tell people after things had improved, she may not have wanted to mention it with your wedding coming up.

MrsSparkle · 21/03/2011 20:49

Bluddy we weren't on and off friends. Before the wedding we were always friends and after the wedding weren't.

Lionrock your right - when she contacted me in January she said everything was fine now and told me she had tried medication but it made her worse and her and her dh were great now.

I understand alot about medication (anti-depressants) so i understand that but i just didn't believe that everything was suddenly hunky doory.

OP posts:
MrsSparkle · 21/03/2011 20:50

If i am honest i do miss her.

OP posts:
JaneS · 21/03/2011 20:58

I don't quite get it. So she was either too close or too distant and became busy when she had a small child? And she was flaky?

Well ... so what?

Not getting to your wedding and canceling at short notice is horrible and I'd be really upset too, I can understand that. But the other stuff just sounds ridiculously petty, and getting to the stage of writing letters and sending nasty notes is a bit OTT.

Either you like her, or you don't. Stop putting her through the mill.

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