Nobody talks about what actually happens to your friendships in the first years of retirement, and it isn't drama or fallouts, it's the quiet Tuesday afternoon you realise some people only knew the working version of you, and there's nothing left to talk about now that the building between you is gone - Silicon Canals

"For forty years, I was Tommy the electrician. My work buddies knew that guy inside and out. They knew I hated working in crawl spaces, that I'd grumble about permits but always pull them anyway, that I kept extra wire nuts in my left pocket. What they didn't know was who I was on Sunday mornings. Or what I thought about when I couldn't sleep. Or that I actually liked reading history books."

"We spent eight, ten hours a day together, five days a week. We knew everything about each other's work lives. But once that context disappeared, we realized we didn't know each other at all."

"The guys from my Saturday morning breakfast crew? We're still going strong. But we never just talked about work anyway. We talked about our kids, sports, what idiots politicians are. Work came up, sure, but it wasn't the foundation."

"Now when we run into each other, we do the same dance—catch up on kids, jobs, and life, but the depth of our previous connection is lost."

Retirement can cause work friendships to fade, as many connections are based on the work context rather than personal understanding. After years of working together, individuals may realize they do not know each other outside of their professional roles. While some friendships, like those formed in social settings, may endure, others that were strictly work-related often diminish. The realization that the work version of oneself is not the entirety of one's identity can lead to a sense of loss in these relationships.

Read at Silicon Canals