Make New Friends, but Keep the Old

When I was briefly in the Girl Scouts at age 11, I learned this song:

Make new friends,
But keep the old,
One is silver,
And the other gold.

I never thought too much about what that meant back then. But I have been thinking a lot about it lately. Part of my recent awakening has been to attempt making a few new friends and I have had mixed results. I have mainly looked to people with whom I associate in my various new activities. I now have coffee or lunch every few weeks with one evening meditation friend. She has a young child and enjoys hearing stories about older children (mine). A second person has not responded positively to several things I have suggested that we do. A third person outright rejected my offer, saying maybe one day. One out of three, hmmmm.

But the really good news is that I sent my BLOG site to some really good old friends this week. I have had rounds of e-mail messages with three of them. I am planning trips to visit two of them and a week-long summer chamber music festival in Canada with a third. It’s as though we never skipped a beat in terms of our ability to just pick up our relationships. I really love these women and at a time when I am not feeling too confident about my ability to make new friends, their care and concern for me is very gratifying.

I think I am starting to see what this song is all about...