Reconnecting with old friends / relationships...

[burtreynolds]

Anyone try this, if so how did you and was it successful ?  

[Deleted]

I didn't talk to my mom or my three sisters for 11 years.

My mom and I now live together and have a better relationship than when I was a little boy.

With the sisters, its a mixed bag: One is pretty cool, one I'm sort of indifferent to, and one I don't really like but love anyway because I kind of have to. For the record, the feeling is mutual in all 3 of those relationships.

[Jaws the Shark]

A few years ago a friend of mine from when I was growing up died, and for a very brief period I reconnected with a member of our little friendship group who I had known since we were about five, but had drifted apart from some years earlier. We went to the funeral together.

It was nice to see him again, he seemed a bit different, more mature. Then I lost his number and COVID came along and that was pretty much it. I feel a bit guilty about that, although I suppose he didn't maintain the connection either, but perhaps we sort of miscommunicated each other into a stalemate. Sometimes I think about reaching out again, but I'm not really sure how I would approach it.

[King Boo]

I have a friend who I know from when we were both five years old. We went all throughout school together, always having a friendship, especially in high school. Then college happened and life things made it so we hadn't spoken for a bit. Just one of those things. One day, shortly after we were done with college, she came into the store I was working at during one of my shifts and we were literally like :o :D !!! We stayed connected, and here we are, both nearly 40, and still very much so friends. I can't imagine her not being my friend at this point.

Some people aren't worth reconnecting with or putting forth an effort to maintain a relationship once you do, but other people completely are. Sometimes you won't know unless you try.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I had written a whole long essay out, but deleted it.

The answer is basically...nope.

I don't split from my friends. They know that. If they leave, they know I ain't coming back.

So f*** them.

[Cyno]

I have with an old friend from HS and it's worked for a bit, though we had a falling out when he went full Q in the last couple of years.

Though TBH I'm pretty bad at staying connected with people because of my own mental health issues making it really hard to take the initiative. I also swore off Facebook which was what a lot of my IRL friends were using most often. Then the pandemic complicated things further. Kids are also a real kick in the nuts for a lot of friendship stuff. Like, you can't hang out til all hours of the night doing shit like you used to because they gotta get home to the kids.

As far as internet friends go, I just reconnected with a whole bunch of them I've known since high school during the pandemic. We all play MMO's and hangout on Discord together. If anything, the friendships are stronger now because we're all a bit older and certain drama-stimulating things are no longer an issue.

[bibboid]

It has been my experience that as soon as I am not present for five minutes, all of my ‘friends’ forget that I exist.
The only person I communicated at all with from high school died of Covid last year.
The guys I lived with for six years both declined to attend my wedding when invited and didn’t send gifts.
The crowd I hung out with for five years all stopped communicating when I moved two miles away.
When my previous job let me go after 23 years, not one single person reached out to see if I was okay and ask my side of the story.

I’ve given up on having friends.
It is too much effort with zero long term return

And all the people who have let me down before can go eff themselves.

[YAKMAN is ICHIBAN]

I reconnected with an old flame from high school

My wife was not amused

[J. Hova]

I renewed my acquaintance with Jerry Sandoval's wife.

Seriously, as someone who has gone down the path with old friends and romantic interests a few times in the past few years, it usually doesn't turn out that well. The friends are alright, it is just whatever made us friends years or decades ago isn't there as we are both different people. The romantic pursuits tend to be more of you are reminded why you are no longer together.

[smokinvokoun86]

Well, it can certainly be done.

In 2018, I moved to California. At first I was gonna go there to try to ne an actor, but got sidetracked to living with a women who i met online. Needless to say, it was the worst mistake I ever made. It ended up being a miserable 2 and a half years of horrible emotional abuse and manipulation, which sadly led to me alienating all of my friends and family back home.

At the end of 2020, I was finally able to get out of there and move to Michigan and live with my Mom. Slowly out surely, I’ve been able to reconnect with most of my old friends and family. Especially my Dad, who my ex turned me against the most. And now we are backing to having a good relationship. They basically knew that I was being manipulated and once they knew that I wasnt myself, it was easier for them to accept me again. It’s a slow process.

[Deleted]

Apr 19, 2022 19:03:01 GMT -5 smokinvokoun86 said:

Well, it can certainly be done.

In 2018, I moved to California. At first I was gonna go there to try to ne an actor, but got sidetracked to living with a women who i met online. Needless to say, it was the worst mistake I ever made. It ended up being a miserable 2 and a half years of horrible emotional abuse and manipulation, which sadly led to me alienating all of my friends and family back home.

At the end of 2020, I was finally able to get out of there and move to Michigan and live with my Mom. Slowly out surely, I’ve been able to reconnect with most of my old friends and family. Especially my Dad, who my ex turned me against the most. And now we are backing to having a good relationship. They basically knew that I was being manipulated and once they knew that I was to myself, it was easier for them to accept me again. It’s a slow process.

Women emotionally abusing men is something that doesn't get addressed enough.