Making Friends Later in Life Series | Episode 3: Your Friendship Wounds & Patterns — Why You Pulled Away (and How to Open Up Again)

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Making Friends Later in Life | Episode 3: Your Friendship Wounds & Patterns — Why You Pulled Away (and How to Open Up Again)

If you’re trying to make friends later in life but something in you hesitates… there’s a reason.

Welcome back to our mini-series Making Friends Later in Life, where we’re slowing everything down and doing it in the right order: first the work on you, then the work on connection. Because before you can build new friendships, you have to understand what happened in the old ones.

In Episode 3, Jennifer and Jackie talk about the friendship wounds that quietly change how women show up — betrayal after trust, ghosting, one-sided friendships, and being the “strong one.” We share two short storytelling segments that hit deep: the kind of betrayal that makes you start editing yourself… and the exhaustion of realizing you were carrying the friendship alone.

Then we get practical: how to name your wound without shame, stop dragging old pain into new connections, avoid trauma-dumping, and let trust build through consistency over time.

To help you move forward, we also walk through a simple reflection exercise — your friendship red flags, green flags, and one boundary you’re keeping from here on out — because boundaries aren’t walls… they’re filters.

✅ Download the Episode 3 worksheet here: Episode 3 Worksheet – Red Flags / Green Flags / One Boundary

Your friendship wounds don’t disqualify you from connection.
They prepare you for healthier ones.

🎙️ Hosted by Jennifer & Jackie
💍 Presented by Bestiemony™ — Because not all soulmates come with a marriage license.
✨ Part of the Chickology™ Podcast Collective — Real women. Real stories. Rising together.

Listen, share with your ride-or-die, and tag the friend who sees you exactly as you are. Then go follow Melinda’s show, Star Women Rising—she’s just getting started.

🎵 Closing Song: Definition of a Best Friend by Brooke August & Hannah Rose
Follow Brooke on YouTube: @brookeaugust

🎧 Subscribe to Slightly Unsupervised

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Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

This episode of Slightly Unsupervised was brought to you by the creators of Bestiemony®—the original friendship ceremony that proves soulmates don’t always come with a marriage license. Hosted by Jennifer and Jackie: best friends, business partners, and co-founders of the movement celebrating real, ride-or-die love.

💍 Book a Bestiemony: rhinestoneweddingchapel.com/bestiemony
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📩 Got a bestie story to share or a subject request? Email us at [e-mail]