This is a story about friendship. About two young girls who met, became friends, and then went their separate ways for decades. If you have ever lost touch with a friend I hope this story will encourage you to keep try and reconnect.

Way back in 1974 I graduated from high school and started college that fall in Nashville, Tennessee. The college I attended was one my parent’s chose for me. Unfortunately, I did not like it. I spent one whole semester wishing I was back in Kentucky attending Western Kentucky University which was where my high school friends had enrolled.

During Christmas break of that year I enrolled at WKU and moved in with my friends on the 9th floor of Rhodes-Harlin. When the fall of 1975 rolled around I pledged a sorority along with Liz and about 27 other girls. Liz lived in our dorm and roomed with another friend of mine, Annette.

Liz was a city girl (Lexington, KY.) and we were from a small rural farming community. We all loved her and found more similarities than differences. She was funny, smart and we adored her but she got homesick (which I understood) and transferred to the University of Kentucky after one year. We promised to keep in touch but life got in the way and it wasn’t long before we no longer saw one another.

Years (decades) later I found her on Facebook and we began reconnecting. My husband and I took a trip recently to the Florida Keys and on the way down I saw a post on Facebook by Liz that made me think she might be close by. I messaged her and sure enough she was in south Miami and agreed to drive down to where we were staying and spend a night with us.

We had a blast getting caught up. We shared memories and laughter and all too soon it was time for her to go. Before she left we made plans to meet again and I believe this time we will.

Have you ever rekindled a friendship from days gone by? If there is someone you have lost touch with, why not search them out and plan a get together. You may find out like I did that there are no friends like old friends!

Old Friends

By Edgar Guest More Edgar Guest

I do not say new friends are not considerate and true, 
Or that their smiles ain’t genuine, but still I’m tellin’ you 
That when a feller’s heart is crushed and achin’ with the pain, 
And teardrops come a-splashin’ down his cheeks like summer rain, 
Becoz his grief an’ loneliness are more than he can bear, 
Somehow it’s only old friends, then, that really seem to care. 
The friends who’ve stuck through thick an’ thin, who’ve known you, good an’ bad, 
Your faults an’ virtues, an’ have seen the struggles you have had, 
When they come to you gentle-like an’ take your hand an’ say: 
‘Cheer up! we’re with you still,’ it counts, for that’s the old friends’ way. 

The new friends may be fond of you for what you are today; 
They’ve only known you rich, perhaps, an’ only seen you gay; 
You can’t tell what’s attracted them; your station may appeal; 
Perhaps they smile on you because you’re doin’ something real; 
But old friends who have seen you fail, an’ also seen you win, 
Who’ve loved you either up or down, stuck to you, thick or thin, 
Who knew you as a budding youth, an’ watched you start to climb, 
Through weal an’ woe, still friends of yours an’ constant all the time, 
When trouble comes an’ things go wrong, I don’t care what you say, 
They are the friends you’ll turn to, for you want the old friends’ way. 

The new friends may be richer, an’ more stylish, too, but when 
Your heart is achin’ an’ you think your sun won’t shine again, 
It’s not the riches of new friends you want, it’s not their style, 
It’s not the airs of grandeur then, it’s just the old friend’s smile, 
The old hand that has helped before, stretched out once more to you, 
The old words ringin’ in your ears, so sweet an’, Oh, so true! 
The tenderness of folks who know just what your sorrow means, 
These are the things on which, somehow, your spirit always leans. 
When grief is poundin’ at your breast — the new friends disappear 
An’ to the old ones tried an’ true, you turn for aid an’ cheer.