In this thoughtful episode, Lee Gale explores the emotional complexity of ending long-term friendships, especially during the second half of life. He challenges listeners to reflect on whether a sudden break is truly justified or if it stems from misunderstood actions, past emotional triggers, or unmet expectations. By examining intent, communication, and patterns of behavior, the discussion highlights the importance of forgiveness, self-awareness, and careful consideration before walking away from valuable relationships—particularly in retirement, when building new close connections can be more difficult.
Lee Gale Gruen is a regular Podcast contributor for The Transitions Network. She is an actress, author, speaker, and blogger. She focuses on how retirees can customize their retirement to fit their own personalities, interests, and comfort level.
WEBSITE: https://leegalegruen.com
EMAIL: gowergulch@yahoo.com
BLOG: “Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years”:https://leegalegruen.wordpress.com
BOOKS ON AMAZON.COM:
“Reinventing Yourself in Your Retirement Years: Find Joy, Excitement, and Purpose After You Retire” https://tinyurl.com/33x9vmcx
“Adventures with Dad: A Father and Daughter’s Journey Through a Senior Acting Class” https://tinyurl.com/5d3yycjw
Click here to see Full Transcript
Lee Gale Gruen (00:01.336)Lee Gale Gruen
Hello, welcome or welcome back to my podcast, Retirement Made to Order. Have you abruptly terminated a longtime friendship or relationship in sudden anger at something your friend did? Have you had that done to you, as was done to me a while ago? I wonder, was the offending behavior really the felony you imagined?
Or just a misdemeanor. Maybe your friend unknowingly pushed a button that you’re hardly aware of yourself. Perhaps the action reminded you of something hurtful that someone else did to you in the past. However, just because the behavior was similar, were the motives the same? For example, did your friend stand you up like that other person did?
Because he, she got a better deal? Or was it for another reason? Did he do it with malice, or was it without realizing that it would hurt you? Did you tell him that his behavior was painful to you and give him a second chance? Or did you just expect him to read your mind and know? These are all things we must think about before terminating.
A long and valuable relationship, especially in retirement, where it might not be that easy to make close friends. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes, both the drop or and the drop E. We have to be more forgiving of each other’s mistakes. On the other hand, if you terminated the friendship because the offense was just one.
One more in a long established pattern of behavior, or some other motive such as jealousy, then that was a relationship you had been wanting to end but didn’t fully realize it, or didn’t know how. I have described two very different scenarios that resulted in the end of a relationship. Be careful in ending a worthwhile friendship in anger.
Lee Gale Gruen (02:24.364)
Because you might be hurting yourself as much as the one you dropped. I’m Le Gail Gruen. I hope you’ll visit me again here on my podcast, Retirement Made to Order, hosted by the Transitions Network. I will be posting new podcasts every week. Feel free to contact me if you want to comment on any of my podcasts. You’ll find my email address.
in the information that follows or in the description at the beginning of this podcast, along with links to my website, my blog, and my two books on Amazon.com. Goodbye for now.