My point
@JoyDivision1990 about the “Fvck off” quote is this. I have friends who have been steadfast as friends for many years. They have been there and been sounding boards when shjt has hit the fan in my life. Two of my longest tenured friends are men. One I’ve known since age 16, one since age 22 (as previously described). Both these people are trusted and in my inner circle. One is an investor in my business and we reciprocally list each other as trustees on our respective trusts. I trust that man with my kids & my money & he holds me in the same esteem. These men were there when the chips were down in my life, and I’ve also been a great friend to them when they’ve gone through things. They both live in different states so I don’t see them frequently but they have proven to be steadfast friends.
Any man that thinks he’s going to waltz into my life in my 50s and tell me to jettison friends like that from my life can pound sand. Seriously. I’m loyal and I appreciate the loyalty shown me by these friends.
Interestingly my father’s best friend was a woman he knew from college, he met her husband in the 1950s at university the night her husband took her on their first date. She & her husband have now been married over 60 years. She (and her husband) were steadfast friends with my dad (and my mom) all their lives. So not only did I grow up with a strong father figure, I had a father whose closest friend was a woman he met in his college/law school years who he never dated, but who was a lifelong friend even though they were both married to other people. My father had several close platonic female friends who were never involved with him romantically. I know them personally and they are great people.
So this was a normal thing to me, both growing up, in my family, and in my own life.
So I see friends differently with regard to gender (gender is immaterial) and I realize that is an unusual perspective compared to many here. My husband knows all these people, and my husband has also met my late father’s best friend and her husband. They are like second parents to me.
To me there is an enormous distinction between real friends and orbiters. I don’t keep orbiters and I think orbiters are a bad idea. Orbiters are opportunistic and they aren’t friends.
To me this is pretty clear distinction and it’s easy to discern. This is why I’m fine with my husband being friends with an ex girlfriend, she’s not an orbiter and I totally trust that friendship. She’s been a solid friend to me and to us as well. Their interaction failed for various reasons before me and independent of me. No way I’d ask my husband to kick her to the curb as a friend.