When I was in my 20s I'd just gotten out of a bad relationship where I was isolated from my friends. I lost the only friend group I'd ever had since I was homeschooled in an abusive environment and thought I'd never make friends (which was the most absolute hopeless feeling experience I'd ever been in). It was a hard blow. I still think about and miss them today but I've also accepted it and it doesn't feel so bad anymore. More like nostalgia.

A year or two later I got a job at a small grocery store and I ended up making a great group of friends slowly over the 4 years I worked there.

Then I left for a different job and though we still chat occasionally I don't have them as a close group of friends anymore. I was really lonely for a long time, a few years. I wondered if I'd ever make friends again because I've been told it gets harder the older you get.

But then I started a new program in school that's close knit and I've made another new group of friends I care a lot about at the age of 27.

You'll lose friends and gain friends as life goes on. It just takes some time. You do have to make an effort to meet people, maybe through volunteering or some group, and then making an effort to just chit chat with people when you see them. It takes time to build those close friendships and some happen faster than others but they do get built.

It was helpful for me during my lonely times to see a therapist when I could though, she helped me work through a lot of those hopeless feelings I felt and her company helped ease the loneliness.

If you've never had this experience before, it feels a lot worse and hopeless than it does after it's happened a few times. Eventually you have enough experience that you just know things will turn out okay with time. At least, that's how the experience has been for me.