[JWBear]

BTD,

I know how you must be feeling, because it happened to me. In 2004, I lost a very close friend because I wouldn’t vote to reelect President Bush. After 9/11 he became very conservative politically. It got to the point where every conversation became a political argument. Finally during a phone call one night, after I again stated I’d never vote for Bush, he got nasty and called me a “liberal wacko”. I hung up on him. He emailed me saying that he was ending our friendship because I “lacked the ability to communicate” (i.e.: I had an opinion different from his). It still hurts, but I realize now that it was for the best. Our relationship had become toxic. Hang in there. Real friends will respect your opinions, even if they do not agree with them.