Yesterday, we invited two old friends of mine into our home for a few hours. And by “old,” I mean that, with the exception of my cousins, these are my very oldest friends. I’ve known them most of my life. That said, I haven’t seen them in twenty years and we’ve kept in touch mostly through the magic of Facebook, which basically means not at all. I’m a naturally shy and reserved person and felt a mix of fear, nerves, anxiety, and sheer dread as I awaited the arrival of, essentially, two people (and their spouses) who were now strangers to me. And so it was a relief to realize that somehow knowing someone in your earliest, most innocent and precious years connects you for life. There was no awkwardness or discomfort; we talked for nearly four hours straight and could have kept going, if it were not for the bedtimes of my children.
As they walked out our front door to return to their hotel, it occurred to me that, had I not moved hours away from them before the start of middle school, we probably would have remained dear friends for all of my life. It’s a little sad to think what I may have missed out on.
Do you keep in touch with your childhood friends? Are you still close to them now?
Waiting to Expand 
I moved (well we moved all the time) but also before middle school. My best friend and I have stayed in touch all these years and 5 years ago my husband and I moved back to where she was. After the death of my mother I was floundering with the lack of family and friends. And I’m so glad we did. She’s my sister in every way but blood. I’m here where her kids know me as auntie and I just am sad for the years we only had phone calls and letters. But so glad we’re now only 10 minutes away. I’m also so grateful for her family- as kids we spent ALL our time at my house. My mom loved having us there and was home and happy to have her girls. Now her mom has adopted me, full circle.
Only one or two in any real way.
It’s sort of like reunions; how you can jump into talking to these people you haven’t seen in years and yet are connected to simply because you knew each other when you were so young.
You didn’t miss out anything… Your roads forked, you went two different ways then came back together to share what you’d discovered… I had a simple question that I thought a friend of mine from 5th grade would know the answer to. We started texting each other the other day and ended up doing it back & forth for hours. It was the sickeningly modern version of when we used to talk on the phone for hours in junior high. I hate FB because I think most of it’s idiotic but where you said you were on social media with these people… that’s what’s kept me at least almost in touch with so many people from years ago. It feels good to know that they’re all only a click away and that some horrible people in high school seemed to have turned out okay…