I am really sad that a long term friend has now decided to give me the ''silent treatment'' about a rather trivial matter. I have no intention to try to pursue the friendship at this stage/engage her further so I am just venting.
A couple of months ago I moved out of London to start a new life in a town about 2.5 hour from the capital. It was an emotional time for me because I was leaving behind (pretty much escaping) an abusive relationship.
My friend had asked me to pick up items she wanted to donate to me (she is selling her flat and wanted to dispose of some of her possessions) before I left London. Not expensive items, just some art supplies that she no longer needed.
Unfortunately I caught Covid the week before my move and could not arrange to pick-up the items, I barely had time to recover and sort out my own move.
I considered asking the removal company if we could pick up the items on the day I was moving out but that would have meant an added hour at least to their journey so it was no feasible.
It seems that she has now decided not have contact with me anymore. For the life of me I really can't see what I could have done differently. I told her I had Covid (I informed anyone I had seen for the past week as soon as I tested positive) and she knew my move was already full of stress. There was no practical options to pick up the items and I had already suggesting alternatives to her (like donating to a charity that collects items at home). She is a wealthy woman and could easily hire someone to dispose of anything she does not want to keep at the last resort.
I must say I have lost quite a few friendship since I cut ties with an abusive partner, had therapy and decided to turn my life around, which included moving somewhere new and getting a new job. I stopped being a people pleaser and became more aware of my boundaries.
But I would never have expected this person to do this because we have been friends for so long and she knew how much of a struggle the past couple of years have been for me. It has made me reassess this friendship though and wondered whether it lasted so long because I made a big effort to be ''accommodating'' and ignore some of the judgmental aspects of her personality.
I made the first move and send her a message but did not get any reply for over a month, I won't try to establish contact again. I absolutely have no time for people who just decide to give others the silent treatment as 'punishment'.
Anyway, thanks if you managed to get to the end of this! but it is so sad when a friendship ends but at the same time I think when get to a new stage of our life it is probably quite common for people to fade away to hopefully be replace by new friends.