Dear Abby,

A good friend of mine and I had a falling out about 7 months ago. We recently decided that we'd try to be friends again, but whenever we hang out it is akward, and we usually invite a 3rd party so that there is rarely an akward silence. Is this just how our friendship is going to be from now on?

Akward in Brillion

Dear Akward,

I'm glad to hear that you're trying to be friends again. However, I don't know what the falling out was about. I'm guessing it couldn't have been too harsh since you're both willing to reconcile. I'm sure it will be akward for a while because you "stopped being friends" for 7 months. That's a lot of lost time. Sometimes, talking about the akwardness breaks it. Let your friend know how you're feeling and maybe if it's mutual, it can be the common ground that opens up your communication and gets your friendship back on track.