Is forgiving someone a sign of weakness?

Ok I never thought I would go back to this subject but it seems inevitable that I do. Those of you who have been following this blog will know that I had a messy break-up with my bestie and things just got downright ugly. And I told myself I was done with it, done and dusted and moving on. For a while I was, for several months I didn’t think much about it. I would always wonder of course what would happen if we were to meet. But I didn’t dwell much on it. But somewhere along the line I realized that I was no longer holding onto the grudge. Suddenly all the hurtful things that were said didn’t seem to matter anymore and truth is I kinda missed my friend. After all she had been my anchor for all of 9 years. 9 of the most important years of my life so far, when I made that transition from a giggly teen to a woman. Its tough to just throw away that batch of memories.

Anyway we have started talking again, baby steps, nothing too hectic. Now my issue now is my other friends, (we have this whole SATC thingy going on- me being Carrie of course) are giving me grief for forgiving her. They were there for me during the worst part of it, with boxes of Kleenex and supportive words. They took me dancing and got me sloshed and filled all the gaps she left. So maybe I should understand them being territorial about me and not wanting to see me get hurt again. But what I don’t understand is how they decided that my ability to forgive is a sign of weakness! How is that possible? Isn’t forgiveness supposed to be a noble, self-liberating decision? I am confused here, anyone to help me out?