The Perks of Aging: A Short List

What is it about being with old friends that can't be beat? This morning I met up with a friend from high school I had not seen since graduating in 1964. Why we drifted apart, who knows, but magically--several marriages, births, careers and divorces later--we ended up sitting across from one another in a small cafe on Route 1 in Freeport, Maine. The conversation was effortless, and it was surely the most fun I've had in a long time. Breakfast was good too.

Along the way I've lost many friendships--some through death, some though disuse, more than a few through disrepair. The ones that remain today are priceless to me, especially since they are rare and few. Still, those shared memories from growing up in the same town--attending the same religious institution and the same schools, the same Sweet 16 parties and Friday night basketball games--provide a base for friendship that is so much stronger than any other. Stumbling upon one of those relationships late in life is possibly the number one perk of aging, since you can't really have an old friend until you're--you know--old.

Happily we live just two hours apart, so there's a distinct possibility we'll accompany one another into our twilight years as successfully as we did into adolescence all those years ago. As my grandmother would say, "I should live so long." Elaine, seeing you made my day!