When Do Friends Become "Old Friends"?

(First grade field trip with some old friends. I'm on the left!)

I asked myself this question just yesterday. I first had to think about the definition of an old friend, and why they're called an old friend in the first place. Surely it wasn't how long you've known each other, or how much you like each other or get along, but rather that you were once good friends with them, and now you may not even know them anymore. You either live far away, or have drifted apart, and then instead of introducing them as a friend, you introduce them as an old friend. I've fallen victim to this many times. I guess it's useless to try preventing changes from happening, and drifting from happening.

Thinking about this in regard to my summer-long trip to New Orleans that is coming up, though, just made me sad when I realized that I don't really know any of my old friends any more. We grew apart, moved apart, and now I have a sinking feeling that they're all completely different and I wouldn't be able to recognize a spec of their personality by now.

This just made me wonder whether I'd want to bother trying to get together with old friends there, or not. With this, I thought: Maybe it's not too late to make new friends with my old friends. Get to know them again, however different or the same they might be. Thinking about this just fills me with hope that all of my old friendships are not lost.

I think that perhaps everyone should do this if they ever have a chance.