Special occasions really have a way of revealing true feelings.

So, what would you do if you were celebrating a major milestone and chose to invite only the friends who have been present in your life, but someone you used to be close with got upset?

Would you invite them because you feel guilty? Or would you tell them not to take it personally and stick to your original plans?

In the following story, one college graduate finds herself in this situation and opts for the latter. Here’s what happened.

AITA for not inviting a “friend” to my university graduation ceremony?

Recently, I graduated (yay) as a professional, and I planned a dinner to celebrate, as I thought my father wasn’t able to attend (he surprised me!! I was so happy).

My mom had to take care of a delicate situation, and my closest family members (uncle and aunt) were in another country.

I was very disappointed because my family couldn’t be there, as I planned to meet my closest friends to celebrate.

Over time, they just weren’t close anymore.

For context, this person used to be a really great friend of mine, but recently I’ve been feeling so much distance between us.

They suddenly stopped inviting me to their birthdays, and essentially, they just gave up on me, stopped texting, or maybe asking how I was doing? I am a very busy person, and sometimes I get caught up in things, but I really try to be present.

I invited other friends from the group privately and individually, but somehow they found out and made a fuss?????

She wasn’t trying to hurt them.

I directly told them not take it personally because it was a decision made not to attack them, but just a reaction to the action (they completely forgot I existed), not out of spite, but just a natural reaction when a friend distances themselves.

I really didn’t mean to hurt them. I just did what I thought was right, but it made me really mad that they involved my other friends in the group to win the argument. They got caught in the middle, and now things are uncomfortable.

That’s exactly what I didn’t want, and it ended up happening, so I got mad because it is very immature, like just accept it and move on!!! They had the audacity to get mad after not sharing more than 10 words with me in the whole year. And it makes me really sad because, as I said, we used to be very close to each other.

AITA?

Eek! It’s easy to see both sides of this, but everyone may be overreacting.

Let’s see what the people on Reddit think about everything that happened.

Moving on is very hard for some people.

It is part of life.

Here’s someone who’s on her side.

It’s ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ for most people.

So, this is not surprising at all.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.