DEAR ABBY: I have been a little sad lately. The reason is that my best friend is acting weird. It makes me wonder if our friendship is slowly going away. Throughout our friendship, we have always jokingly made fun of each other. Lately, it seems that anything I say makes it awkward, and she hasn’t been wanting to talk to me as often or acting the same way she did before.

I’m afraid we are not going to be friends much longer, which scares me. How do I fix our friendship without asking for it upfront and without being weird? — HER BESTIE IN CALIFORNIA

DEAR BESTIE: You may be scared, but the only way you may be able to repair your friendship is to tell her how you are feeling. Because you sense she is distancing herself, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by being honest.

A way to start the conversation would be to ask if you may have offended her in some way with your jokes because, if you did, they weren’t intended to be hurtful.

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Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.