Make New Friends But Keep the Old

Those who are or were Girl Scouts are probably familiar with a Girl Scout favorite:  

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

Usually this song is taken to mean it is great to keep old friends and to make new ones.  Well, today, I did both, with the same person.

She and I were best friends almost 50 years ago in Izmir, Turkey, where our fathers were both stationed.  We left Turkey within months of each other and each headed to different parts of the US with our families but we became pen pals and wrote regularly though college.  Then she moved and lost my address; I couldn't find hers and well, it had been fifteen years and we were pretty small when we split.  Life goes on and she was but a pleasant memory.The last I knew she was in Washington state.  

A couple of weeks ago she sent me a facebook friend request.  She and her husband moved to Louisiana, about an hour away from here, several years ago.  They had things in storeage that got wet during the recent flooding and as she was cleaning out she found a card from me that said I was in New Orleans.  She had her daughter try to find me and we decided to meet for lunch.

We had a great time today.  We talked about our families and our lives.  We seem to have a lot in common and enjoyed each other's company.  We'll definitely be getting together again.  I've got a new friend, and she is the only person I knew in second grade with whom I am still friends.