Silver and Gold

"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other Gold."

Any former Girl Scout will remember the sing-songy tune from a sing along around a campfire. (Maybe while making packet potatoes and s'mores!) I am quite sure, if my memory is correct, the one (and only) camp out I participated in as a Girl Scout was in the midst of a horrendous thunderstorm (maybe even a tornado...my mom will refresh my memory). I was five or six. After first grade, my mom and Jenny K's mo(remember when people were referred to as their name and first initial...whatever happened to that? Unless of course you are on the Bachelor....). Anyway, our moms decided that we could spend our time in a different activity. Apparently, the group leader was a little bitchy, so we didn't go back.

As I started to say before prompty distracting myself (yikes...), friends.

I learned as a kid that friends can be made anywhere, at anytime. Some friends stay in our lives forever, some friends are there for a fleeting moment but somehow stick with us in our hearts or minds. As I've grown older, I have realized there are different kinds of friends. Friends near and far. Location is decidely not such a factor, as when in grade schoool. Your BFF can live 3000 miles away. As a kid when you got moved to a new class it was crushing to not be in the same class with your BFF, but then you quickly had a new BFF. Now, with technology helping, you can be super close in heart, but far in distance. Then there are the pals who you don't talk with everyday (or even monthly), but you know when push comes to shove, they would be there for you (and you for them). Those are the friends that you can go months (or years) without actually talking to and the next time you're together it feels as though no time has passed at all. You just pick up where you left off.

No matter how much you may try to keep every friend for life, it just doesn't happen. Life moves on and the friendship changes. You stop talking all the time and then time goes by and you recognize it's been years. No one fought, no one cut anyone out of their life. The friendship just faded. I have had relationships like this in my life. People I loved and have just slipped away. We grew up, we changed. It does not affect my warm feelings when I think of them. I still think fondly of my BFF from 9th grade (Lisa Fab) anytime I come across my complete works of Emily Dickinson book. I think of Nate and Lainey when I see 4 kids playing and hugging and being kids. I think of my college pals anytime I see a group of cute college-age girls being silly. And the list goes on and on...Though these people are no longer part of my life full-time, they have impacted me. They have helped shape my life in some way. There will remain a warm fondness when I think about the times we shared. And I do beleive if I were to run into any one of those people, I would be genuinely excited to see them in their current phase of life. Catch up on where they've been and what they're up to. In fact, I would love it!

With the advent of Facebook and other social networking sites, this changes things up a bit....you can "keep in touch" without actually ever talking. (weird, but cool).

This whole random thought process began last night as I was leaving class. I was walking out with a group of people whom I think are starting to become more than just classmates, we're becoming friends. I realized that when we all stayed after class (for 45 minutes) just to talk and laugh and share. It made me so happy. And I knew that I wanted to begin a friendship when I genuinely wanted to know more about them and am looking forward to the next time we chat and engage.

I made a similar realization with some work friends at Happy hour on Monday. I don't think we even talked about work at all. Yes, we met through work but we are friends.

These new people are becoming the silver friends....the new ones, the modern ones. These new friendship will not replace the old ones- rather they will just make sure that my heart starts to expand and make more room for the new. The Gold friends will always be there- either right up front (still) or in a warm memory.

I am so lucky to have every one of these friends-types in my life. And I hope every person has at least one of these- currently or at some point in their life. We all deserve someone.

Thank you to all of my friends out there- near or far, old or new.

My life wouldn't be the same without you.

Hell! I wouldn't be the same without you.

Thank you for your friendship. I love you!