Friends from the Past

Last night I had dinner with 6 friends, all of whom I went to high school with.  This is just a subset of a group of "girls" that were all in the same high school program.  Many still live close by, but we also have a number we have tracked down who live far away.  Through the wonderful efforts of a couple of girls in the group, we have managed to stay in touch over all these years (the email system sure has helped!) - and it's been a lot of years, given that we graduated from Grade 13 in 1967!  As we all approached our 60th birthdays, we decided to meet to celebrate them.  Over a period of about a year and a half we had several memorable get togethers.

Some people find that once they retire, their social network shrinks.  Sometimes people do remain in contact with their work friends, but there is research that suggests that many of us lose touch over time with these individuals.  Social isolation can be one of the challenges that some retirees face.  As we retire and as we age, it is important to maintain and to strengthen our social network.  One way to do this is to reconnect with friends from the past, even people as far back as high school.