Whether it's because you "drifted apart" over the years or because of a larger blowout, it's hard to put what losing your best friend is like into words. Even if your (ex-)best friend was an amazing person who knew you through and through, people aren't perfect and some mistakes are too big to rectify. And then there are times when you simply can't control what happens. BFFs move away and swear they'll stay in touch, but then they get busy. You might even be the one who loses touch. Perhaps breaking ties is inevitable in those situations, but that doesn't make it any less painful.
No matter what the circumstances are, I think we can all agree that losing your best friend is literally the worst. In fact, research shows that the number of friends we have starts to drop around the age of 25. Your support network can be majorly affected if one of those lost friends is your bestie. The longer you've known each other and the more you've been through together, the more it can feel like a part of you is missing once the friendship ends. Here are 13 cathartic quotes that just might make the healing process easier:
1. "Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart." — Washington Irving
2. "Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends." — Richard Bach
3. "It was going to be a long, dark night but not quite as dark as it was in the abyss of his heart where there was nothing but hollowness, yet it felt heavy, almost as if someone still resided there." — Faraaz Kazi
4. “It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.” ― John Steinbeck
5. "Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over." — Octavia Butler
6. "Growing apart doesn’t change the fact that for a long time we grew side by side; our roots will always be tangled. I’m glad for that." — Ally Condie
7. "Friendship is delicate as a glass. Once broken, it can be fixed but there will always be cracks." — Waqar Ahmed
8. "Losing people you love affects you. It is buried inside of you and becomes this big, deep hole of ache. It doesn’t magically go away, even when you stop officially mourning." Carrie Jones
9. “There are going to be some people who at some point of your life will become your friends. And some friends, who at some point, will become just people.” — Chanda Kaushik
10. "Come back. Even as a shadow, even as a dream." — Euripides
11.“There are no happy endings. Endings are the saddest part. So just give me a happy middle and a very happy start." — Shel Silverstein
12. "We all lose friends.. we lose them in death, to distance, and over time. But even though they may be lost, hope is not. The key is to keep them in your heart, and when the time is right, you can pick up the friendship right where you left off. Even the lost find their way home, when you leave the light on." — Amy Marie Walz
13. "The comfort of having a friend may be taken away, but not that of having had one." — Seneca
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