So the friendship wanes.

I don't let my friends off easily. In that I psychoanalyze them. Rightly or wrongly. Because I wanna understand them. Of course, that involves some risk. I may end up misunderstanding. And that could jeopardize the friendship. But I'm willing to take that chance. I'm often trying to ascertain what makes my friends tick. And that if they are unhappy or disconsolate, what it is that bugs them. Sometimes, it's me. I have a knack at alienating people. Including some friends. Because I take a friendship seriously. Turns out that I don't break friendships. Instead, it's the other way around. My friends break it off. Because they reach the point of having had enough of me. I'm able to accept friends unconditionally. But some of 'em can't do the same with me. They wanna make the friendship conditional. Hard for me to buy into that. So the friendship wanes. --Jim Broede