Friends,

Grrrrr ........

Maybe I've outgrown a friendship that has existed for 35 years.

I have been running around with my husband, taking care of his health needs, which included open-heart surgery almost four weeks ago, and I'm tired.

My friend has a habit of asking questions that wind up irking me. It may sound strange. She is 18 years older than me, and I kind of see her as a mother figure.

My emotions feels like they have been rubbed raw the last seven weeks dealing with a bunch of health-care professionals, who were not very compassionate towards me or my husband in a lot of cases.

My friend asked me a question, which relates to one of the sore spots in my life (job-related), and it just seemed like she was trying to put me down and deflate my self-esteem.

Now she won't answer the phone. I was trying to reach her so it didn't turn into a big deal.

I would love to hear from anyone who has experienced anything similar, or has some compassionate advice.

EJ