For many years Social Psychologists have recognized the importance of what they termed social support as a vital ingredient of good physical and emotional health. No surprise then that a recent 10-year Australian study found that having good friends can have a significant psychological impact on well-being and ‘help you live longer. This was attributed in part to the fact that you can choose your friendships, as opposed to your family.
Recently, my family & I celebrated the wedding of my son & daughter-in-law. This significant and important day was made all the more special because 8 of my high school friends traveled to Canada from Wales to enjoy this time with me and my family. We had all become friends at age 13, and have remained close ever since.
Those truly linked don’t need correspondence. When they meet again after many years apart, their friendship is as true as ever.
–Deng Ming-Dao
Our friendships of over 40 years, have survived among other things, leaving for college, marriage, divorce, and living “over 40,000 miles apart We go back so far we can talk about anything. They knew my parents, where I grew up, my antics as a teenager and my favourite haunts. Yes they really can fill in a lot of blanks-even the blanks I don’t want them to fill in!!
“It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Am I suggesting we were a little stupid when we got together? The answer in short is … Hell yes, you bet we were! That’s what drives this dance of life.
