Ask Amy: Political divide threatens to split friendship
Dear Amy: I recently reconnected with my old best friend. My BFF and I were like sisters during our school years, starting in first grade and extending through college. We have kept in marginal touch since then, texting a couple of times a year.
We are both in our late 60s.
It has become apparent that we are opposites regarding many of our political and societal views. Some of her comments have rocked me to my core.
I did not want our first conversation in years to devolve into an argument, so I expressed the fact that I have opposing (way more liberal) views than she and tried to direct us back to family updates.
She seems rather reclusive and extremely anxious.
I don’t think she has many friends and was very grateful to talk to me. She wants to continue our calls. However, I am struggling with whether I can maintain a relationship with her.
I can’t stop thinking about how repellent some of her prejudicial opinions are to me.
While we have a rich, shared history, we really don’t seem to have a lot in common now, but part of me thinks I should give it a chance, if only to maintain superficial contact for old times’ sake.
Do you have any guidance for how I might navigate this potential relationship?
– Missing my BFF
...continued
