re: No longer friends, just grew a part or you broke it off?

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I've normally just grown apart. As I've gotten older, it takes more effort to continue friendship. I've never had something bad happen to the point I stopped being friends.

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I've grown apart from a lot of my high school friends for one reason or another. People change dramatically from the middle of high school to college, and then moreso from sort of the end of college through entrance into the "real world" and beyond.

I was the first (and so far one of only two) of my high school and college friends to marry, and was the first and still only to have a child. As such, I'm essentially on a different level than they are in terms my priorities and such. It took them a while, but they've come to realize that I can't go to the bar on Tuesday for $2 you-call-its or things of that nature.

In terms of "breaking it off," I've really only had one friend from whom I legitimately had to distance myself. He was always sort of a self-obsessed a-hole -- which became worse in college --- but it came to a head when he was one of my groomsmen and literally didn't come to any of our wedding parties or my bachelor party, ditching one to go to an away Hog game he didn't have tickets to, just to hang out and wing it. He even mentioned that he might not be able to make it to the rehearsal dinner, and I called him and flat out told him I had the right mind to kick him out of my wedding altogether if I hadn't already paid for his tux. He was conciliatory, but he hasn't changed a bit. The only time I saw him was the night before and day of my wedding, and have never really heard from him again. He's never seen my house or my kid, and we're better for it. Sad, because his parents are great people who've always been fantastic to me and my family, which is primarily why I didn't kick him out of my wedding.