This Is How It Feels To Have Friends Who Stay

You meet someone, start a friendship, and become close with them. For years you’re close, then all of a sudden, they’re gone with no explanation at all. They ghost you without any further communication.

For me, this happened with someone I thought would be my friend for years. I made friends during high school, and they continued to be my in my life even after graduation. We remained close friends for nearly 10 years. Then one day, out of nowhere, they ghosted me. No communication. No explanation for their sudden radio silence.

Losing close friends hurts you in many ways. In fact, you’re never the same after something like this happens.

You develop trust issues and struggle to open up to new friends in the future. You spend years blaming yourself for this single event. You’re left wondering if you will ever feel close to a friend again and if any friends will stick around. And, even more than that, you wonder if you can ever let your walls down enough to let someone in like that ever again.

Then it happens: You click with someone who insists they will stay.

As much your gut insists that you shouldn’t trust them, you hold out hope. You still err on the side of caution because your past friendships tell you to remain skeptical.

It feels strange at first, like you’re waiting for them to leave, just like the old friends did. Yet something feels different this time. These new friends prove themselves time and time again, showing up and giving their dedication to you and the relationship you’ve developed together. After a while, you start feeling safe and secure for the first time in a long time. You feel loved like never before, and you slowly let your guard down. You open up about your past, yet these friends still accept you. You pour your heart out to them, and yet they stay. You start fearing the loss of this friend and past friendships less and less, and you start letting them see the real you. For the first time, you feel free… and that’s something truly rare for you.

Deep down, that’s all you have ever wanted: a lasting friendship.

When friends stay, you feel loved and appreciated. And even if trust issues from past friendships linger, you eventually feel comfortable and stop wondering when your friends will leave. When you finally find the friends that you deserve, you start feeling better about so many parts of your life.

As the days pass, you feel lighter, more confident, and at home with these people. Your life truly improves because you’ve finally built something sturdy. You feel like you can finally trust these friends, and it’s a new, shocking experience. Your worries melt away, and life just seems sweeter. This is what it feels like to finally find true friends who stay. This is what it feels like to finally have the friends you always deserved.