Sarah (not her real name) and I became friends over 20 years ago when our dd's were in nursery together. Back then, Sarah would ask me to look after her dd quite regularly after school and during the holidays. Our dd's were good friends so I didn't mind as my dd enjoyed having her friend over to play. I would often pick Sarah's dd up from school (at Sarah's request) along with my own. Sarah was not working and could have done the school run herself. She had another friend who would take her dd to school for her. Sarah is married, her dh has quite a long commute to work so was rarely able to do the school drop off or pick up.
Fast forward a few years and Sarah and I were still close and would meet up for lunch or an evening out. She would still ask me to do favours; mostly taking her dd to activity clubs that my dd also took part it which was no issue as I was taking my dd, anyway.
Gradually, as our children grew into young adults, Sarah and I would still meet up however Sarah became unreliable. Despite saying that she was keen to see me, she'd often cancel coffee dates, sometimes at the very last minute. I gave up on initiating meeting up because it hurt when, inevitably, she would cancel. If she did show up, she was often late.
A few years ago, someone close to me observed that 'Sarah is very good at getting people to run around for her.' I have noticed over the years how Sarah's friendships flow; she is all over someone if she admires them or thinks they could be of use to her in some way. Her latest best friend is very wealthy. I bumped into Sarah yesterday and she was noticeably nervous to see me, talking very rapidly and not making eye contact.
I have lots of longstanding friends but this experience has made me feel hurt and weirdly, angry and I really want to stop feeling like this. Can anyone relate or advise on how I can just put all of this behind me? I think it is hard for me to process that perhaps she was not a genuine friend when she always spoke so kindly to me.