“Will a friendship I lost a year ago have a chance to be repaired?” ~ Karin, Dresser, WI
Hi Karin,
I’m sorry you’ve been without your friend for a year now. Whether your relationship with him/her can be repaired or not depends on each of you and your individual wishes about this. Without having details, I can only offer some general suggestions.
The first thing to do is to reach out to your friend and let him/her know how much you miss your relationship and how you would like to become friends again. It’s very important when you do this that you avoid placing any blame on your friend. If you have an apology that you need to make, be sure to do that, along with making any amends that would fit well with the apology.
If possible, avoid communicating via electronic mediums such as texts or emails. It’s simply too easy for messages to be misconstrued in a way that won’t help your effort to repair your relationship. If your friend absolutely refuses to talk with you, then try sending a heartfelt letter and ask him or her to contact you. If sending flowers or a small gift seems appropriate to do at that time, then by all means, make the effort to show your friend that you are sincere about your desire to work through whatever issue tore you apart and regain your friendship.
Keep in mind that perhaps your friend is not ready to talk with you and remain respectful of his/her wishes. Keep a loving and kind demeanor no matter how your friend responds. At the same time, don’t give up hope if you are first rejected. Just give it more time and then try to reach out again in the future. Remember, while sometimes people get hurt and want distance from each other, true love never dies. Best wishes for a happy reunion!
Tracy Morrow
I created an article offering some additional steps that may also help. http://www.inspir3.com/9-steps-heal-hurt-relationship/