A long time ago, I attended a birthday party for the brother of a friend of mine. He was seven, and sits at the far right of the table. His sister, my friend, is on the far left and I am on her left. The birthday boy sent this photo to me recently; I had to admit that I had absolutely no memory of his party, which made me sad and a little embarrassed. The little boy in the center, with his arms up by his face, is now over 50, which makes me feel as old as the hills. I used to babysit him and his younger brother, and I still see his family nearly every year.
I have not seen the birthday boy since he was about 10, since his sister and I graduated from high school and she moved away. She and I still see each other at school reunions and we email often. The birthday boy began to email me several years ago and we are in daily contact. It makes me happy to stay in touch with all these people and I am happy to have them in my life today. We share a history of place and era, and a comfortableness together that is very appealing. I hope that you have similar old friends with whom you continue to share.
32 comments:
No matter where you go and what you do, the friends you had in childhood seem to be the most comforting. Maybe they bring us back to a place where we felt safe and loved and that all things were right with the world. I often think of my friend Mary who still lives in Roanoke and those times we had at her house or mine, priceless.
Don't worry about it, Judy...do you have any idea how many parties that I've been to that I have absolutely no recollection of whatsoever? And yours was a decade or two ago...some of mine were as recent as 2004!!
It's somewhat strange when a bit of the past comes back to greet you, but great if you can incorporate it into your present life and be more rich for it.
Good for you Judy.
I have two childhood friends that we exchange emails daily.... like a very long running conversation. One of the long running conversations is about 6 years old now. A lot of it is what one says reminds the other of a retort or something similar, and there is always our minds working on trivia things of our past.
Unfortunately for me, no. Not a one. My closest childhood friends from school and such are dead, except for one that moved away and never stayed in contact with anyone. Of course I've made other friends along the way, but a lot of them have died too, the latest one being a very close friend who drowned in South America last summer. I'm 46 and most of my friends shouldn't be gone already
:(
Hello, Michele sent me today. :-)
What a great post! I love old pictures, and stories from childhood. I have a friend who I met when I was 8 and we were in Brownies (Girl Scouts) together, we are still friends to this day, and most likely will be for the rest of our lives. It's wonderful to have such a life long friend, I think they know you better than anyone.
Lovely memory. I hope to have similar stories to share as I progress through my life.
Thanks for stopping by my little spot on the web today.
I, too, have friends I've known since childhood, high school, college, and later. All of them are priceless!
I do not keep in contact with anyone I went to school with. Most do not do the reunion thing either. I think many are too busy keeping up the appearance of success and the rest of us are trying to forget what dorks we all were.
How very special that is.
You are not old as the hills. You seem pretty spry to me. And the hills are REALLY REALLY old.
I do have some, yes. there were three "girls" I was very close to in High School, we were a foursome...and one of them I first met in Kindergarten, so we have a long history. We have all stayed in touch and all of our Birthdays are in June...There is a wonderful continuity for the four of us....we've lived through much together, and I know I value their friendsip with me like no other...There were some other people too, but they are dead now, sad to say.
This is what I LOVE about email. What a warm and fuzzy story!!
I love when people from the past step forward into my life and I love when I remember someone from my past to revisit, too. It doesn't always turn into a long-term communication, but it's great when I connect.
I have very few people from the old days that I keep in touch with, and practically no one from my earliest years. I'm glad you have that.
It's so nice this lovely memories brought by photos!
that's so great! :) i miss all my old friends from when i grew up. i don't hear from anyone anymore. sad. but its nice to know that not everyone has the same experience! i can live vicariously!! lol!!
have a great day judy!!
How amazing it is that we can leverage technology to maintain such precious connections.
This picture and vignette brought me back to the birthday parties I attended as a child. When I visit my parents, I walk down my old street and still see the parents, now seniors all. Amazingly, most of them are still there.
What a wonderful world, isn't it?
Don't feel bad, Judy. It's a little too much to expect your memory to hold onto every single thing you've ever done. I'm sure attending the birthday party of a 7 year old wasn't very important to your teenage mind back then. That 8 year gap in your ages was huge back then.
BTW, I never saw your bee post, Judy. Last year I posted on that topic--and you might have mentioned this to me back then. My memory isn't nearly as sharp as yours is.
not nearly as much as I should, but it really is great to stay in contact with old friends.
Thanks to e-mail I can keep in touch with friends who wouldn't ever write a letter. So I am very thankful to have this! How nice that there are people who still keep old pictures! and pls don't get me wrong, I am NOT calling you old, but if I try to explain it I might sound even worse, so I will leave it like this!
How wonderful
I don't keep in touch with many folks from my past. I moved so often that it was difficult for me.
But when I do hear from someone from the past, it's so wonderful.
Happy birthday to your friend.
Cas
Kenju,
Our network has been in and out. My comment to this post was one of the casualties.
The people in our past and how we felt/feel is a topic busting with potenial material for a post.
I love what you did with it. I too have reconnected with friends from my past and find the relationships no worse--and even better for the intervening years. Thanks so much for making me think about how much that means to me.
lucyd
this morning I was feeling down in the dumps, that's unusual for me but I do have those rare days. It seems like all the phone calls I have been getting lately are for some kind of information or help in some way. I don't mind helping out when I can but I have become aware that's been the pattern for some time now.
Well this morning I received a phone call from an old friend who called just to see how I was!!
When I hung up I was in tears.
There is nothing like an old friend!!
I envy you your old friends! I have long-time friends, but not from childhood. Not since my last sister died last month. She kept up with the crowd from our high school since she still lived in the same area, and I don't. I saw them at her funeral, but I'll probably never see them again.
But I have friends from my very early twenties. And we are in almost daily contact. Ah! How good it feels: the hand of an old friend.
On my birthday I had a phone call from a friend I went to junior school with and her brother - a pal of my dear, late brother - asked her to ask for my e-mail address. I can only picture him about thirteen but it brings my brother a little closer.
I would love to get back in touch with some of my friends from my childhood, it's been so long!
I'll bet anything there's lots of birthdays that you do remember, however. :)
A few years ago, when I was disputing a bill via a 1-800 number, the woman on the other end, although she helped me with my problem, kept asking me curious questions. Where are you from? What school did go to? What class?
...Son of a gun, but she turned out to be my date for our junior prom! We ended up talking for an hour! We hadn't seen or heard from each other in 35 years. She felt my name was familiar, and although I was living in Boston area, she detected traces of my West Virginia accent.
...It's a small world.
I certainly do...and they are a joy!
Isn't it amazing how we can forget whole days of our lives? People often bring up things I can't remember either.
Isn't technology great? We age but new devices are made every day to remind us how old we are getting.
Hi Judy...
Hoipe you are okay...If you said you were going away, I myst have missed it, but just wanted to let you know I am thinking of you and hope you are okay.
I've always said that old friends are like fine wine....they only get better with age.
I have a few that I'm still in touch with and I certainly DO value their friendship and I cherish all the memories we've shared together.
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