Would Appreciate Advice

[Guest guest]

Hello Group,

In the past five years I have gone through a rough patch but am

through it now and can " see the light at the end of the tunnel. "

Along the way I got caught up in doctor's prescribing all kinds of

medications that in the long run were not good for me. I have weaned

myself off these medications and am finally feeling like my old self

again. I'm not saying all medication is bad but for me I simply

needed the right kind of " talk therapy. " I am now seeing a christian

counselor who teaches cognitive behavioral therapy. My family has

been supportive but some of my friends have not. Instead of being

supportive one friend, whom I thought was a good friend, wrote me a

letter saying that she was " in a place in her life where she needed

to surround herself with positive people " therefore she did not want

to talk to me anymore. This is a woman whom I had been friends with

for about twenty years. She is a very self absorbed person who always

wants to be the center of attention. About seven years ago her

husband had an injury. She divorced him. I personally thought it was

because she didn't work, had never worked, and couldn't count on him

for a paycheck. She began having a series of relationships with men

half her age and married one guy who she had only known for a couple

of months. She wasn't paying as much attention to her kids at this

point and they were 20 and 17. The 17 year old has tourette's and she

simply left him with her aging mother. The 20 year old moved out and

got into a relationship with an abusive young man whom she eventually

married. In her letter to me she put lots of accusatory stuff in it

and was very insulting and mean spirited. All of these things were

not true. I wrote her a letter simply telling her that her

accusations were not fair and wrong and that over the years I had put

up with her self righteous, sometimes embarassing behavior and that

our friendship was always " on her terms. " She has fought with every

member of her family and I knew it was only a matter of time before

she would try to pick a fight with me. NOw I know she has problems

but I do miss her friendship. Sometimes she made a lot of sense and

we had a lot of very good in depth talks. Why am I having such a hard

time letting go of her friendship? Yes I feel rejected, but it

shouldn't matter to me because I know she is so troubled. Any

suggestions?

Andi