Old Friends

We went to a wedding last weekend. Meghan was in the wedding, and looked beautiful, of course. Second wedding for us this summer--I performed the wedding of our nephew, Sean, to his bride, Emily, in mid-May. Both were wonderful events because we got to see family and friends. It is these wonderful people with all their warts and worries (and their willingness to overlook mine) that make life as wonderful as it can be.

Sue and I have moved a lot in our 27+ years of marriage. As a result, we've had to form friendships quickly. Sometimes we've been successful, and at other times, we've come up short. We like our new friends. And, we think they like us. But, the best kind of friends are old friends (which as we get older, seem to be the only kind we've got).

How long do you have to know someone to consider him/her an old friend? I'm not really sure, but I'm beginning to think that old friends are not just people we've known for a long time. No, old friends are the people we click with. They are the sort that we feel comfortable with after only a short time. They are the ones to whom we can say anything, and usually do, often before we even realize we're doing it. Old friends are the ones that make us feel at home, even when we're not. A "new old friend" is someone we want to introduce all our other old friends to because we're so sure that all of us together can have the most wonderful time.

Through the years, I've noted that I do not need a lot of friends to be happy. As I sit in this little bagel place and reflect, I think I need to amend that statement. I don't need a lot of friends that I barely know after 20 years, but I'll take as many old friends as I can get.