Grown-ups worry about unequal playdates
Often, I wonder if she remembers who she is talking to. She has a lot more money than I do and talks about it often.
I treasure our years as friends but wonder how I missed these behaviors for so long. Can people suddenly change so much?
My heart hurts for the erosion of our long-term friendship.
Just writing this has helped to clarify the situation, but I'd also appreciate your take.
-- Moving On
Dear Moving On: One person's radical and overnight change might be rare, but two people each changing incrementally over a period of many years is completely normal -- and this would explain why you two are now so far apart. Your life experiences seem to have opened you up. Her life experiences seem to have gradually closed her.
Moving on from such a long friendship is painful, but remaining in a relationship where you feel continually devalued is probably worse.
Dear Amy: I've been interested in the rise of the term "ghosting" to describe the sometimes sudden removal of a person from someone else's life.
I don't love all modern terminology, but this strikes me as supremely fitting.
-- No Ghost Here
Dear No Ghost: Yes, this is the perfect term to describe the action, as well as the experience.
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(You can contact Amy Dickinson via email: askamy@amydickinson.com. Readers may send postal mail to Ask Amy, P.O. Box 194, Freeville, NY 13068. You can also follow her on Twitter @askingamy or "like" her on Facebook.)
