The friend???/ My Arse Walking Away

[Guest guest]

I had a close friend " V " . We saw one another almost every day, from ages 16-22,

we even

shared a place to live for a while. " V " was the Godmother of " Baby Girl " (the

young lady

with RA, who I have requested prayers for) and also a " Friend " of Baby Girls

Mum. This was

in England.

When I returned to the US, country I was born in, my " friend V " wrote to me

often and I

wrote to her. Everything was fine when I was teaching, when I was waitressing,

when I

went to University, when I was a socialworker. Even when I became a foster

parent to some

very troubled childen and considered adopting one of them- although my " friend

V " did

not hesitate to criticise any choices I made about medication for this child she

had never

met.

At some point " friend V " began to neglect her duties as Baby Girl's Godmother.

Later I

figured out that this coincided approximately with Baby Girl's Mum going

inpatient at a

mental hospital for a while.

We continued to exchange letters although this slowed down after my first

Psychiatric

hospitalisation. " Friend V " was very critical of the medications I was on and

quite certain

that I was in the " wrong kind of therapy. "

None the less, I did go visit her on my last trip to England in 2000. She was

hospitable

and seemed happy to see me, but she kept insisting that I hadn't changed a bit

in over ten

years. She also repatedly told me that I was not mentaly ill, just " rather

fragile. " I was so

glad to get out of there and backto my " Baby Girl " and her Mum- no questioning

my

diagnosis or meds in that family, unconditional love

true friendship.

Recently I contacted " FriendV " to tell abour her God Daughter's medical

condition. I

suggested this would be a good chance to offer Baby Girl an opportunity to see

her again.

" Friend V " was furious that I would " feel strongly " about this or any other

matter in her

life. I wrote her a reply e-mail titled " My Arse Walking Away. " I will leave it

to you to

imagine the body of the text!

Cassandra

Cassandra