In light of the recent news of Pete Davidson and Ariana Grande’s breakup, I would like to share one of my unpopular opinions: Exes can be friends and sometimes impact your life more than you’d like to think.
Any sort of relationship is bound to be difficult—whether it’s with our parents, new and old friends, and especially romantic partners. As we grow up and mature, our feelings towards people can change—even if we’ve spent a substantial amount of time with a person, anything from six months to five years.
I genuinely believe that exes can be friends if the circumstances are right. It can’t be done immediately following a breakup—in my case, it took almost two years for us to even be able to be in the same room. My high school boyfriend, Fig*, and I were close friends for two months before we started dating. Now I can’t even remember when things changed for us, but they did. We had our issues, nothing we couldn’t resolve. We were young and really in love—he dealt with all of my stress, depression, and mood swings, and I helped him cope with his family drama.
Photo Credit: Jericha Tavares
Of course, all relationships take their course, and we broke up nearly a year and a half after we started dating, after struggling through AP classes, celebrating college acceptances, taking trips to Disney, and endless fights together. Almost 3 years later, we can talk if we need to, like if I need to ask if Alexa can be hacked, but we usually won’t. We’re both in happy and healthy relationships, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel affection for him, which is 100% completely normal.
Since Mac Miller’s death, I’ve been extremely worried about Ariana Grande. They were in love for years and had been friends before their romantic relationship. When Mac died, I felt so many emotions, and I know that if I were Ariana, and my ex-boyfriend died, I would spiral out of control in a similar fashion.
I really think that Mac Miller’s death was the breaking point and brought her back to reality and took her out of her whirlwind romance. I’m all for love and new relationships, but I’m also for healing. I think she needs to take time away from the chaos of being a celebrity and focus on her mental health. Dealing with grief is hard, and it often hits at the most random times.
Even if they weren’t together, there was still love there and no ill will. Caring for your exes is okay. Being friends with them, if it’s a healthy friendship, is okay. Time may heal all wounds, but the memories will remain, and sometimes you just need an old friend to remind you who you were and how far you’ve grown.
*Name has been changed for privacy purposes.
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