As I continue to think about the friendships that I am saying goodbye to, it has brought up some questions: Is it really possible to stay friends when we don’t respect each other? I’m sure you could argue both sides if you really wanted to, but maybe a more important question is: why would I want to stay friends with people who don’t respect me?

As I look back at my friendships over the years… when I called someone my best friend, to me it meant:

• I could call them no matter what the time
• they were there to make me laugh
• often it involved drinking and mischief

As I think about it now, there are things that I realized that even in my “best” friendships over the years, I didn’t share the tough stuff.

• suicidal thoughts
• opening my marriage
• marriage struggles

If I can’t share these things with my best friends…