Heartbroken

Last week I had a really nice dinner with a dear friend. It was great catching up and sharing family stories. Taking about children, grandchildren, travel...you know everything you share with a friend. The best thing about it was that it was just us girls, no husbands, no children. You couldn't have asked for a more relaxing evening.

Of course, like girls always do, we shared some personal family stories and family happenings. What are girlfriends for if you can't share what you're feeling? So, we shared! Some stories were funny, some serious, some sad and some heartbreaking!

I remember when I was Relief Society President in 2001-2003 and the importance of keeping confidences. At times it was difficult to do, but that was an important part of that calling. It was quite a learning experience to say the least. Many lives are entrusted when asked to keep a confidence.

I remember recently, that a dear friend shared with me some family struggles. She's devastated and crushed with the decisions her children are making. All she can do is be supportive and at the same time watch helplessly as they go through this journey of life. We as adults see the pitfalls and do our best to guide and direct our children. There are times they listen and other times ignore our heeding. It's something parents deal with when watching their children stumble and try to pick themselves back up again.  After our two hour dinner my friend asked me to keep the conversation confidential and to not even tell my husband. Well, those that know me know that I do not keep secrets from my husband, but this time I felt it was important to keep this confidence. And keep it I must!

Here I sit crying! My dear friend accuses me of telling my husband about our conversation because her child said I did! I'm dumbfounded! I shared my conversation with no one and yet I stand accused of not keeping a confidence. I'm heartbroken! My thoughts turn to this...Is her child feeling guilty? Is her child telling my friend that I shared this with my husband to maintain control of the situation? What is their motive? All I know is that I did not share the conversation with my husband.

In my humble opinion, the only time a confidence should and must be broken is when a life is in danger. Well, this was not the case! Now, I must go through this pain of not being trusted by this dear friend! She did say to me that if I didn't say anything then she believed me. Yet, how does one un-ring a bell? How does one gain another's trust again? Especially when they are told by their own child that you did! A new bridge will need to be built between us. I can honestly say, I will be more cautious in the future when speaking with this friend because I do not want my integrity challenged again!