When I was about ten years old, a very nice girl I met at camp gave me a book with a poem in it that said something like "There are gold ships and silver ships, but the best ships are friendships." That has surely turned out to be true in my life. I am rich in the number of close, long-term friendships I have formed in my life, starting in my youth and continuing through my troubled young adult years into today.
My closest "old friends" are loyal and supportive and never abandoned me, not even during those dark times when I was abandoning myself. Throughout the difficult years, we still managed to co-create a lot of hilarity, light, and joy.
Our shared history means so much, and although years can sometimes pass between visits, our memories and the care we have for one another act as the glue that binds our friendships together. I hope you have at least one old friend who knew you when.
If not, perhaps you can think of somebody to reach out to for a reintroduction. Old friends are among life's most precious gifts.