Make New Friends but Keep the Old
Those are Silver but These are GOLD
John Parry (1841-1903)
Old friends remember
details we’ve forgotten, and we do the same for them.
New friends
allow one to reinvent oneself.
Both have
important places in life’s journey.
My oldest continuing friendship is more than half a century
and counting. A few months back, when I posted a photo of little me, (in the
context of having been a cat lover from way back) she reminded me that I used
to concoct, compose, and communicate stories about my cat’s nightly adventures
when the rest of our immediate world was in dreamland.
Oh, then I remembered. Seems I’ve been a storyteller longer
than even I had recalled. Back then, as soon as I told the tale— it became a real
tail. A few years more, and I knew what was fact and what was fiction. But the visceral
memory of what it’s like to be an imaginative person of four and five came
gushing in.
Because old friends sometimes know you better than you know
yourself.
Keep the old.
6 comments:
That is so beautiful. I no longer have any of my childhood friends but I am so grateful that my older siblings remember things I do not. They are my best gifts from my parents.
So true, Mirka. Both old friends and new ones, and ones in between, are special. And as Vijaya said, siblings and cousins can be especially good friends. My mom was extra good about keeping up with countless friends (and that was back before the ease of emails, facetime, social media, and even much phone calling). Someone once commented to her about how many people she maintained contact with. Of course, part of it was that she really cared about people. But she also said it was sort of like reading a book and not getting to know the ending; if she didn't stay in contact with her friends she'd never know how their 'story' turned out.
Thank you for being such a good friend to me, Mirka.
Yes, it's wonderful to have old friends and new ones. I appreciate the friendships I've had, some only temporary, over the decades and marvel at how long the old ones have endured. I'm still friends with the woman who was 2 years old when I, a 2 1/2 year-old, first arrived in America. Through her, I learned English quickly and, because of her generous mother, was invited to participate in so many things my immigrant parents could not provide. Though our lives are dramatically different today, there's an incredible historical bond. Other old friends are from high school and college and afterward. The longer I live, the longer those friendships become. We continue to remember those early days of our younger years.
Old friendships are gold! Though we wouldn't necessarily have categorized our relationships as friends, nowadays my siblings are some of my oldest friendships. They definitely have a way of reminding me of who I used to be.
I used to think that my longest-held friendship was since eighth grade, but I recently regained contact with two people I've known since I was three. We were best friends in nursery school and we're now in email contact.
I think my oldest friendship is - wow - a friendship of 60 years! And my next oldest friendship is 50 years. How the time flies!
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