The topic for this week’s advice column focuses on childhood friendships that have not continued into adulthood and what to do when you want to reconnect.

I want to reach out to my elementary school best friend, but I’m worried our life paths have taken us on different routes. How do I reach out to them without being/making things awkward?

Alexis

This actually happened to me within the past four months. My childhood best friend had to move during our first year in middle school, and we didn’t end up keeping in touch. In high school, we became friends on Facebook and caught up a bit. It was nice to talk to each other again and see what we were both up to, but the conversations were short, and we didn’t end up making any plans.

Right before this fall semester started, the individual messaged me and asked if I would want to meet up in person sometime soon to catch up. When I saw that, it immediately put a smile on my face because we hadn’t spoken or had an in-person conversation in so long, and it made me happy that even after all these years, we could still reconnect with each other.

I’m telling you all of this because I feel like it can be easy to overlook or forget how strong some friendships were after some time has passed. No matter how different both of you may be, or how different your lives may be now, many individuals truly have a special place in their heart for their childhood best friends. 

In the end, you should reach out to your elementary school best friend. Try messaging them over Facebook, Instagram or wherever you feel most comfortable and tell them that you wanted to reach out and see if they would want to talk or meet up.

The reason it may seem as if reaching out could end up making things awkward is probably just because it has been so long since you both have communicated with each other that you are unsure of what to expect and unsure of what kind of mindset they are in. Your elementary school best friend could be feeling the exact same way, and if not, that doesn’t mean they would not want to talk. The worst that can happen is that they say no, and even though that would suck, you wouldn’t be wondering anymore, and you’d know that you tried.