I had dinner last night with long-ago neighbors who grew up around the corner from me as a kid. Some of them I’ve kept in contact with, others I hadn’t seen in 60 years. Within minutes it was like the years merged as we talked about where we’d been and what we’d done; we talked about stuff and people from back then and since then, and all to soon it was time to say goodnight. Driving home I thought about all the people that have shaped my life: parents, siblings, my own family, extended family, professional and work colleagues, acquaintances, and so many others who’ve come and mostly gone. But it’s those who’ve remained, both close and on the periphery that I thought about: those are friendships that only get better with the passage of time and, like good wine, are to be forever savored. While the internet gives us access to them like never before, there really is no substitution to walking and talking, and sharing a glass of wine and dinner, with ‘old’ friends: that’s the real trick to living. Do what it takes to stay connected to them today.
Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith (1905 – 1982): American sportswriter and Pulitzer Prize winner.
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