Making New Friends

Being a girl scout of long ago, we had a little song we used to sing about friends.
Make new friends
but keep the old
one is silver
and the others gold

Even then, I understood the words and meanings behind the symbolism.

Old friends are gold, they are the ones you've known for years... the ones you call up after too much life has gone by, but can pick up the conversation as if you had just left the room for a moment. I have many friends in many states, and this is a common occurrence with me. We didn't have internet or e-mail in the 80's and 90's, just old fashioned postal mail. You dropped a letter or card, or you just called if you could afford the long distance bill. Todays technology makes cards seem obsolete, now the mail only carries bills and the obligatory credit card offers, of which I get too many to count. Luckily, my shredder gets fed well everyday.

But old friends, well, they're precious, no doubt. You can ploy them with excuses about how busy you are, and they offer the customary pat on the back of "I know, I'm there myself".
They are just happy to hear your voice, hear about your life, your family and your aches and pains. Then the conversation shifts to solving the worlds problems, and before you know it, 10 hours goes by. Don't laugh, it has happened to me. I spent 10 hours on the phone with my girlfriend one night... we were actually able to say goodnight to our loved ones, carry on , and keep on through the night, till her husband got up the next morning and asked if we were still talking to each other. I made a quick call to the phone company next day to change my service to include an "unlimited long distance clause" to my usual service. It worked, whew! that could have been costly!

I make promises to my friends in all the christmas cards I send. This year, I say to myself, will be the year that I will make a more concerted effort to stay in touch. Sadly, I not only lie to them, but myself as well. Keeping in touch is not as easy as it once was. Many new friends get picked up along the way, and work keeps you busy and yadda, yadda, yadda.....

So, what to do, huh? Well, every year, I go Christmas shopping right after the winter holidays are over.... and not for the sales (although that works pretty good if you do it just right). I search stores, antique shops and seasonal festivals. In each one, I find things that remind me of my friends and think, oh, wouldn't so-and-so love that, it's her/his favorite color, favorite animal or favorite subject.

So if I seems like I'm not keeping in touch as much as I should by writing or calling, know that I am thinking about you all along because I take you to my favorite stomping grounds and pick out gifts that I will mail out by the end of November, just in time to be under your tree by Christmas. But feel free to eat the banana cake and cookies first, that's the first present of the season you get to open.

As for new friends, you're just as precious to my world. You give me the faith that I still have the ability to stay young at heart and clear of mind... and that it's only a matter of time before we become old friends.