Alexandra NielDivorce Recovery Coach, ANiel International, LLC. · I help women who held it all together through divorce finally build a life that’s actually theirs | Thrive After Divorce

Navigating Friendship Loss After Divorce My Journey #shorts

25 Sept 2024 · 1 min

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In this personal reflection, the speaker recounts how her divorce caused a loss of about half of her friends—specifically those who were part of her ex‑partner’s social network—while she retained every friend she had brought into the marriage. Those retained friends, ranging from nearby confidants to overseas and long‑uncontacted childhood friends, proved to be a reliable source of support during both low and high moments. The speaker also notes that not having children made the separation cleaner and less entangled, allowing a more straightforward emotional and logistical exit from the shared life.

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When my ex and I got divorced, I lost half my friends. But the interesting thing was this: I didn't lose any of the friends I brought into the relationship. I really essentially lost the friends that he brought in the relationship because somehow we never made friends as a couple. And the friends that I held on to were there when I needed them. They had my back, they supported me in my worst of times, and they were also there to celebrate the best of times. But it wasn't just the friends that were close to me physically, it was my friends overseas and also childhood friends that I hadn't talked to in a long time. And knowing that they were there and that I could count on them was an absolute blessing. The other blessing, which is a bit of a double-edged sword, is that we didn't have kids, so I was able to, in a way, make a clean getaway.