One is Silver and the other Gold!

I found myself humming that song I learned and taught to Girl Guides for years the other day – and it dawned on me how very true it is.

New Friends are Silver – and Old Friends are Gold.

I am blessed with several old friends – not a huge number you must understand – but the old friends I have are really old – not only in age at this point, but in the amount of time we’ve been friends – upwards of 40 to 67 years! And no matter how you cut the cake, that’s a lot of shared memories and experiences. And it is that sharing that makes our friendships so special. Old friends don’t need to be in constant conversation, they are content to just relax in the warmth of the combined company.

It’s a comfortable feeling – relaxing with old friends. Just taking a walk on the beach or in the woods with old friends is special. There’s an immediate understanding and appreciation of things that your years of shared memories makes easy to communicate. Being with old friends is a pleasure.

On the other hand – I find myself making new friends on a regular basis – some of these new friends might some day be old friends – most of which will not. Many of them I won’t even remember their names come morning.

And that was what was making that old song run around in my head. I was truly enjoying being with some new friends. It’s great to learn about someone else’s life – the good and the bad choices they have made, what they forecast for the future – stuff like that. There’s a fascination to be sure in listening to folks recount their history – to wondering what stories they will have to tell you.

And New friends can be very very interesting. One gets comfortable with old friends – there isn’t that much new stuff from day to day – but New Friends. Wow – there’s so much about their lives that even weeks of telling won’t completely reveal. And it’s that discovery process that is so very interesting.

But here’s the rub – here’s where the fur hits the fan – here’s where the going gets sticky…

What do you do when your new friends and your old friends don’t get along?

Must you choose between them – a horrible thought. Or do you hide you new friends from your old friends? Lately, I’ve been doing the later – mostly because I can’t stand the idea of letting my old friends go – I have too many memories of them over the years to just let it end. But I don’t want my ability to make new friends to be compromised.

It’s a bit like bridge partners – how does one choose between folks one has partnered thru thick and thin for years, or a new – potentially more exciting – partnership.

I just don’t know. Do you?

Signing off to go back to singing her little song…

Make New Friends but Keep the Old. One is Silver and the other Gold.

Leslie