Make New Friends, and Keep the Old

I'm a Girl Scout leader, and one of the songs we teach the kids is "Make New Friends".  For those unfamiliar with the song, the lyrics are simple:  Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold.  This has been a weekend of old and new friends for me.

My roommate from Mississippi University for Women was driving through town Friday night and spent the night at my house before heading off to see her family in Mississippi.  We haven't changed a bit after all those years, have we?

After she left, I got dressed and headed to Mississippi myself.  Mississippi's First Alumnae Association, the original Alumnae Association of Mississippi University for Women was having a gathering in Bay St. Louis.  One of our members, Jimmie Meese Moomaw, had written a book (I interviewed her here) and we were going to have lunch and then head to the local bookstore for a reading.  Were these old friends with whom I had lunch?  Yes and no.  We were all participants in various email lists for alumnae/i of MUW, and have gotten to know each other through the years via those lists, and via work for MFAeA, but I'd never seen any of them in person until yesterday.  Still, it was more like a gathering of old friends than a group of strangers.

After the reading I headed to my Dad's house where I had dropped the kids.  Dad wanted us to go to mass with him so we did.  While there, I ran into four people with whom I went to high school, and learned that my Alma Mater's  football team was playing for championship this year.  Go Bearcats!

Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold.  The circle is round, it has no end, that's how long I want to be your friend.