"True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost."

- Charles Caleb Colton

It may be worthwile to pursue your friendships even after school life.

But you must always bear in mind that friendships can be fickle and can change at the twinkle of an eye if you are not careful.

Arlene Shawis in a quandary. She loves her best friend of more than five years but her boyfriend can't seem to stand her and this is creating a conflict in her relationship.

At the same time, Shaw is at risk of losing her best friend who cares a lot about her but cannot handle the fact that she is allowing her man to come between them.

"It is a difficult situation for me because I can't afford to lose my friend but at the same time I want to please him (my boyfriend)," said Shaw.

She noted that her boyfriend has no basis for hating her friend but it appears that he is jealous of the strong relationship that she has with her friend.

Tanesha Drummondhad several close friends before she got married. However, after she moved in with her husband, she was not able to see them anymore or even talk to them on the phone.

"He would start making up his face when I am on the phone. It was like he just wanted me to just talk to him," said Drummond.

She added: "I allowed the situation to continue then most of my friends drifted away from me."

"When we broke up, I literally didn't have any friends to talk to about my problems, so I would encourage people to always maintain their friendships," said Drummond who is now in the process of obtaining a divorce.

Annette Martin said she formed a friendship while she was on the Mona campus at the University of the West Indies. That friendship blossomed but after the two graduated from UWI, things began to change.

"I realised that I was doing most of the calling and she would only call me when she had problems or wanted me to do something for her," Martin lamented.

"I kept watching what was going on until one day I decided to stop calling and the day I stopped was the day the communication stopped," she told Saturday Life.

Martin said the friendship rekindled after a while but the problem continued.

"I just decided to call it quits because there is no point in being in a friendship that is one-sided," she said.

Dionne Sharpe had a similar experience. She said she became best friends with another girl while in high school.

"We were bench and bottom at school and would do everything together," said Sharpe.

"But after we left school, we began to grow apart because I was the only one who would attempt to keep the friendship alive," said the 25-year-old.

She noted that she decided to call it a day after she fell ill and her so-called friend did not visit her.

Real names withheld

petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com