Old Friends

“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emerson in His Journals

I laughed when I read this!  My favorite times that travel through my mind are in the gathering of friends--laughing with Karen (she's such a clip!), tucking my feet beneath me in the corner of Deb's sofa with a glass of wine (or coffee) and catching up (although these days it's at my kitchen table since she's relocated but stops in whenever she can).  And then there is Dianne, we tend to go for years (shame on us) without connecting, but then a letter or a phone call can catch us up and keep the bond, just like we'd never left each other's side.

There are "newer" friends.  Those I met after I came home again.  Instant bonds formed as we wove in and out of zones, seeking comfort.  Most of us found it with each other, and an important thing was learned by me--you don't have to maintain that steady closer-than-life-let-me-eat-out-of-your-pocket closeness to keep loving each other, but growth is determined by loving that person for exactly who they are and not looking to change anyone.  Make sure you are there for them in the role you are supposed to play.

I recently went to Walden Pond.  Now, I had never even heard of Walden Pond until my girlfriend, Sheila, and her husband Kent, had chosen to visit there a couple of weeks ago.  She wanted to go to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery too.  I was going to be bold and just hang out in Salem, but changed my mind quickly upon meeting these two wonderful people.

Now I have decided that old friends isn't just those that you have been friends with for years and years, but those that you connect with, old souls, drawn together once more.