I must admit it: I am a person with very few friends, but the ones I have are the best. The political situation of the country has caused friendship relationships of years to break in a second. In that sense, I believe that they are not real friendships if they are broken because of political stupidities. I have Chavista friends who know my position and respect it and vice versa.
As I was reading your post, I was remembering my friends from school, high school and college. As in your case, some friendships were lost with time, maturity. I remember one time I was on public transportation and a fat, dark-haired girl with a little girl called me by my name. I turned around and didn't know who she was. She told me her name, but I still did not recognize her, however I made the gesture that I remembered. I asked her something like this, how are you, what has become of your life. The girl told me she had three daughters and was divorced. When we finished talking, I heard her say quietly to the girl, “She was my best friend in school.” I still don't know who she was.
It will be a pleasure to talk about this topic this Monday, Eric. I hope you are well. A big hug from this sea.