Hi Rio,

I know this is a difficult time but you will get through it. I always envied people who said they were still friends with people from their childhood. I have not retained any friends from my childhood. I did try to rehook up with one but it didn't work out well.

But, what I have discovered is that I have learned something from everyone that has come in and out of my life. I am very selective about who I become close to so I don't tend to have many friends at one time. I do have one friend who was a roommate in a mental hospital with me back in 1991 and we are still best friends today. We don't talk or see often because we live a couple of hours apart but when one needs something we know the other will always be there.

You may or may not retain these friends, but it won't be because they didn't like you! If they didn't like you they wouldn't have hung with you for 10 years. You can be pro-active and stay in touch with them and try to hook up again down the road. Or who knows, you may take a different turn in life and meet new people and you may not want to keep in touch with them.

Go through the mourning because that's what it is when life changes drastically. But don't look at it as a bad thing - look at it as a way to grow and move to a new segment of your life.

Tranquility