Can Brad and Jen really ever be friends again?

Is it true? Do we really believe all the gossip about Brad and Jen being secret buddies again behind Angelina's back? (I told you I read all the gossip mags with Jen on the cover) Do we even believe it is true that ex's can be friends? I am uncertain.

Technically, I am friends with my Brad. By 'technically' I mean that it depends on when you ask me. We split almost six years ago now, and in the intervening years we have ignored each other, been best friends, wanted to strangle each other, engaged in some drunken reconnecting....all trying to find a balance in what we are. (Ok, maybe the drunken reconnecting was less about balance and more about familiarity and Jack Daniels...but the rest of it? That is all about balance for sure.)

Funny situations pop up when you are friends with an ex - and by funny, I mean funny to me. Brad usually doesn't find them funny at all. Here is one of my favorite examples. Brad and I separated six years ago but our divorce was just final a few months ago. So to annoy him, when we would hang out and run into people I would introduce myself as his wife. Technically true, but no one in his modern day life even knew he'd been married because Brad is a consummate manipulator of the truth. So he tried to pretend that I didn't exist and in return I would smile, shake the hand of some girl he was interested in, and introduce myself as his wife. See? I find it funny. Brad....not so much.

Another funny situation? Every time Brad and I hang out, we run into a member of his family. It's almost to the point where we are walking into a restaurant and we can make bets on which cousin we will see that night. I am sure that his family for years has probably thought that we were pretending to be getting a divorce and secretly still together. (Except his sister of course, because she gets to hear my rants when he really pisses me off) Now if I am alone, I never run into these same people, only when we are together...life is just funny.


In all honesty, I don't expect that Brad and I will stay friends once either of us finds themselves in serious situation with someone else. I did have a pretty serious boyfriend after we split up and when I was with him (let's call my boyfriend John Black, for reasons only known to him and me) Brad and I were out of contact except for extreme emergencies. And it was good. I was happy and content without the ex-friendship of Brad. Since John Black and I parted ways, my friendship with Brad has started again. But I think it is pretty obvious to both of us that we are just each other's back up buddy. Being friends with someone from your past means that you are constantly reminded of all the things you did wrong then and the kind of person that you were then. (And I don't know about y'all, but I was pretty naive and pretty silly back then. I am way cooler now!) All the things that we had in common before are pretty much gone and our friendship is almost solely fueled by a shared history. Anytime I think that anything is different about him, I am disappointed. In the long run.......yeah, still uncertain. I better call Jen and ask her what we should do.