Can a friendship end after 26 years?

[Goodmum1234]

I have had a friend for years. We have been through thick and thin. We don’t see each other often but always have reconnected like nothing has changed.
I’ve treated us to weekends away to spend quality time together as her health has deteriorated over the last five years.
Covid has been hard and she has been shielding as extremely critically vulnerable. It’s not been easy for anyone but I have tried leaving messages fairly regularly and often with no response.
Months went by so I decided to ask if I’d done anything wrong. I got a reply via voicemail. Rather offish and breezy about friends growing apart and how that’s sad!
I was gutted. I haven’t responded as I’m upset, bewildered and having thought about things the effort has been one sided for years.
It’s now been 3 weeks and to be honest I feel like I’m done with it.
Is it possible to move on and continue to make new friends and move on with life even though once upon a time she was your closest friends
Advice please. Be kindp, lots going on at the minute

Thank you! It does hurt but I have bigger things to worry about. I’ll concentrate on those that care for me x

Just another perspective here. I suppose I’m doing the ghosting. My best friend of 30 years has done some things over the past few years which have, hard as it is to say, killed my feelings for her. She sulked when I eloped to get married, she booked a holiday for her and her husband and I had no choice but to look after her kids because there was nobody else to pick up the pieces. Another time i arranged to meet her for a day out an hour a way and when I turned up off the train she’d stood me up!! There are other instances of selfish piss taking, lying and deceit, leaving me to organize any meet ups and I have just had enough. She doesn’t do frank, honest discussions so I am just keeping my distance.

It's really tough op but people change and sometimes then you are not aligned. I have an old uni friend who lives in a different country now. We've sent letters and visited each other over the years but when we visited last year I just really didn't like what she has become. She's sort of turned into her step mum whose qualities she used to hate. It's really put me off her. She keeps calling as I think she sensed the way I was feeling but I can't bring myself to have a blatant discussion about it. At least in your case she had the nerve to do that.

Yes, my oldest, closest friend just ghosted me. Bumped into her in the lift at work and she blanked me. She also sent an anonymous letter to HR, reporting me for misuse of social media. A friend of mine in HR told me it had come within the department (she knew because of how the internal mail works). Got a copy via the DPA and recognised her style. She’s welcome to her sad, friendless little life. I’ve no idea why, although she was quite jealous of my career, and always used to make a pass at my husband when she was drunk.