So friends have told me I would lose my friends because of my social stand…..

Sadly I have. The question is; were they truly friends?

For whatever reason I have been the go to person for those who have suffered a loss. When a friend of some twenty years lost his son to suicide I became his sounding board. He refused to go to counseling. We cried together, he would drop by my office and slump into the guest chair and we would talk. I would cancel my appointments because he needed me.

He never rejected me no matter how often we disagreed. We argued like family.

In the past few years I have reconnected with many of my boyhood friends, it has been a fun experience. Then a few years ago a friend from my boyhood lost his son to suicide. We cried together, we talked and we again cried. He refused to talk to any of our life long friends, he relied totally on me for almost a year.

Because he too refused to seek professional help I contacted my cousin who is a clinical psychologist for help. Nobody knows how much this type of trauma can affect friends, I was totally drained.

Then politics entered the picture and because I had a different point of view I have suddenly become persona non grata.

Will I survive? Of course I will but I am sorry to lose our talks on Skype.