Old Friends

I spoke with several old friends today. Not old in the age sense! Just good friends that I’ve known as friends for a long time.

Some of these are very close and I see them frequently. Others aren’t quite as close, and maybe I don’t see them quite so frequently, but they’re still dear old friends.

There’s a particular comfort in spending time with old friends that is hard to describe and yet, hopefully, quite familiar to us all. You can say what you think and what you feel. You don’t worry about any form of judgment whatsoever. You can laugh about old shared jokes and experiences, and freely make up new jokes and experiences on the fly. Old friends are comfortable, like a well worn pair of jeans or shoes that you just don’t ever want to part with.

Each of these old-friend encounters was business related. An update. A consultation. A gut check. A second opinion. A very honest second opinion.

Old friends are trusted.

I also got to spend some precious time, late in the day, with a new friend. It was a wonderful juxtaposition. This young individual impressed me to no end. I suspect, in fact I believe that this new friendship will grow substantially for the rest of our lives. And someday, when I speak or write of old friends, this young individual will be top of mind.

For all old friends were once new friends, young friends.

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." –Anais Nin, 20th century writer and diarist