According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, a stranger is a foreigner or someone who is unknown. Sociologist Georg Simmel said that a stranger is someone who does not belong.
Recently I have found myself drifting farther and farther from a group of friends I have had since elementary school. I send text messages that don't get responses and I plan events where no one shows up. Some of it is that we all go to different schools now, but I find it hard to believe that over the course of six months I have come to mean so little to them that they consciously ignore any effort of mine to reach out.
I have even noticed that the same group of friends I am trying to rekindle my friendship with get together without inviting me or they check their social media instead of taking the two minutes to respond to my text.
I have half a mind to just let them go. In two years, I will have moved far away and will have a new job and have met new people. The other half of me doesn't want the friendship I have worked so hard for to crash and burn, to become nothing but a memory.
So I now implore these same friends to read the following letter and tell me that they honestly do not want me to retain any sort of friendship.
Dear Friends,
I have known all of you since a time when we were awkward and prepubescent. We faced the trials of middle school, puberty, and high school together. What does our friendship mean to you now? Is it worth getting together a few times a year? Has our friendship deteriorated into the polite kind of friendship that only requires the obligatory "happy birthday" message on Facebook?
Do you want to be present in my life more than the occasional drunk "how are you text?" Do you want to be able to help me when I struggle or are you content to see only the facade I keep up on social media? Truly, I still want to be friends with you. I am just sick of being the only one to put forth the effort.
It comes down to one question. Do you want to continue to know me?
If not let me know now so I don't waste my time.
Sincerely,
The Neglected Friend