Make New Friends but Keep the Old
Make new friends, but keep the old; one is silver, the other gold. I used to recite these lines as a young girl scout, unaware of the deeper meaning. As a child, it was so effortless and natural to make friends. I took for granted the power of proximity and consistency that school and sports allowed and have since become increasingly aware of the importance of all friendships, young and old.
Both relationships bring value, each precious metals in their own right. I’ve learned that I’m constantly leaning on my entire network of friends, regardless of the length of time I’ve known them. There is no super friend who does it all, or a romanticized movie version of what friendship looks like, but rather a web of friends who collectively weave the perfect structure of love and support.
The tried and true gold friendships, that have withstood the test of time, feel like slipping on an old pair of shoes. Molded perfectly to your foot and worn in all the right places, there’s no time wasted breaking them in or developing trust. They’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly and still chose to stick around—that’s powerful. In tune with family dynamics, old relationships, personal tendencies and beyond, it’s always refreshing to slide back into a rhythm with someone who knows your upbringing inside and out.
In fact, I recently had an old neighborhood friend let me know they were in town and wanted to meet up for dinner. When we sat down at the table they laughingly told me they almost called to make the plans but remembered I hated phone calls as a kid and opted to text me instead. While I’ve moved past (sort of) my phone phobia, he wasn’t wrong in knowing that I’d prefer a text to get the ball rolling. Such a simple moment born out of a longstanding familiarity and history that I greatly appreciated.
While old friends may be gold, new friends are silver. In tune with your daily life and choosing to be friends with you because of who you are now is its own type of connection. That’s not to say I’ve become some unrecognizable, evolved version of myself, but I don't have to justify or explain changes I’ve decided to make since my adolescence. For example, becoming plant based, finding a life and hobbies outside of soccer (lol), or my own political voice and opinions. That’s just who I am and who my silver friends have always known.
This group of friends pushes me, challenges me, and are the people I interact with most regularly. Having similarly taken the leap and left home, there’s a kinship and reliance on one another. Becoming each other's emergency contact because your parents are 2,000 miles away or the spontaneous call to go for a walk and get tacos and margs on a Tuesday—this is an absolutely essential bond and one that I rely on heavily.
As time marches forward and both friendships deepen, new friends turn into old friends and gold friends stay the course. To finish the first stanza of the poem, “A circle is round, it has no end. That’s how long I’ll be your friend.”