What I am referring to here are face-to-face friendships, found and created by shared interests. Many people have friends, especially when married, who are either the husband's friends or the wives friends. My parents had friends in common. They went out together dancing, played bridge together, were in the choir and had choir picnics at the home, went to concerts together, and so on. Some of their friends, in fact, most, were not only Catholics, but from the same parish. Some of their friends were good neighbors, one couple they have known for 70 years.
In this day and age of mobility, friends usually are kept via the phone or Internet if one moves. But, I am discovering a problem when some of my older friends, who are treasures indeed, do not use social networking. They are only comfortable with the phone and face-to-face relationships.
I am all for this, but when one is traveling either for a job or pleasure, friendships with those outside the social networking must rely on trust and that special thing which means that no matter how far away or how long one has not seen or heard from a friend, meeting is like only being away for one day. One can pick up where one left off very quickly with good friends. Such friendships are based on mutual respect.
I have been blessed with friends, mostly Catholics, who are either academics, or moms, or homeschooling moms, or involved in the Church. However, some of my good friends are single women, who are highly intelligent and deeply spiritual. These women, traditional and orthodox, even though we cannot get to the Latin Mass, are guides and real sisters. We may not see each other often, but we can pick up where we left off. Sadly, sometimes, these relationships end in death, as I am entering into the age where people become ill and die.
I hope the art of friendship has not been lost. My dearest friends are, like me, idea people, who love to discuss religion, theology, philosophy, prayer, and who do not gossip or talk about clothes, getting their nails done, hair, weight loss or gain, vacations or other people's business (ugh).
I have friends of all ages as well. My younger friends keep me focused on the world in which they live, and keep me young at heart. These friends are real blessings.
May God bless you with good and holy friends who help you move towards God and eternal life.
