"Make new friends, but keep the old.
One is silver and the other is gold.
A circle is round, it has no end.
That's how long I will be your friend."
-from the Brownie Friendship Song
In 1977, we had no cell phones...no email...no Facebook. After high school graduation, I stayed in touch with a handful of people via corded telephones, handwritten letters, and occasional face-to-face encounters, but with those old-fashioned methods of communication, it was inevitable that I lost track of a few along the way.
But, thanks to reunions, emails, free long distance, and now Facebook...especially Facebook...I'm finding them again! Even some I never even had back then. In that way, Facebook has been a true blessing - in this frantic, fast-paced world, I've been able to rediscover lost friends, find new ones through my 'gold' ones, and get to know all of them in a way I never did before. This big old world feels a lot smaller to me now.
When I was three, before I had any idea just how big the world really was and "around the corner" seemed a long way off, Randi was one of my best friends, despite the three year age difference. Her backyard connected to mine, and even now if I close my eyes, I can step through the sliding doors, find my way through her kitchen (where her mom Ginger offers me a homegrown cherry tomato exploding with flavor) and into her bedroom. One wall is lined with shelves crowded with dolls I know are NOT to be touched, much less played with...I think they were gifts from her grandfather - a merchant marine, perhaps? But I'm probably stretching my memory out over too many years to remember it accurately.
We drifted apart about the time boys became more interesting than Barbies. Her parents moved from the neighborhood, but our parents still kept in touch. A few years ago, my mom discovered Randi was living just one town over from me and urged me to get in touch with her. I had good intentions, but life kept getting in the way - and also all of those years in between "now" and the last time we talked. Would she even remember me?
But the older I get, the more sentimental I am...and also more willing to stick my neck out and take a chance. All it took was a few minutes to find her on Facebook and send a quick message..."Do you remember BeeBee...?"
Randi and me, not saying "good-bye" at the end of our two-hour lunch today, but "see you again soon"...and knowing we will...
Also this week...I made more new friends from the class of '79, hanging out with Shari...Darlene, me, Shari, Audrey on Tuesday, then Shari, me, Darla (one of my "golds"), and Nancy on Wednesday...
