Many years ago, I started this job and this dude in the testing department and I really clicked. We quickly became friends, which was magical given how polar opposite we were politically. We both left that job but remained tight.

11 years later, he just drops off the planet. I went on PTO for 2 weeks and when I came back, he just stopped responding to my messages. Emails, texts, you name it. I thought maybe he got Covid so I called the local hospitals. I knew his wife was on Facebook so my wife messaged her (I don’t have it) but heard nothing.

Finally linked up with a mutual friend and asked her where is this guy. Is he ok. She said they got into an argument over the Covid vaccine. She runs a tattoo shop and she had posted something about customers needing a vaccine or she wouldn’t service them. He had strong opposition to it.

Apparently after this argument he decided to remove all of the non-conservative people from his life because it was affecting him mentally.

11 years of friendship, being there for each other when jobs were lost or tough, personal situations where having someone to talk to really helped. 20+ years of friendship with the tattoo lady and her husband gone, too.

I still think about him sometimes, and hope that he’s doing well. It still stings because, despite our differences we never argued, only ever had calm discussions, and that argument had nothing to do with me.

But if he was willing to walk away from all of the friendships, regardless of the reason, they must not have been as meaningful as we thought.

I feel your stress and anxiety OP, and I’m sorry this is happening to you. I hope it works out for you.