This past week, not only did I have the pleasure of traveling, but also enjoying an unexpected reunion with an old friend.  I’ve got to be careful about using the word “old” when talking about my friends, but this particular meeting was long overdue – by forty-five years.

Thanks to a Facebook post, I noticed that a college fraternity brother was within miles of the resort we were staying at over the weekend.  Admittedly, I’m more of a passive Facebook user, interested in what people are doing, but not always giving them the same benefit.  I plan to get more involved in my retirement years, because it truly is a great way to reconnect with lost relationships.

I think we all get caught up in the challenges of family and career, leaving friendships behind in the process.  We continue to make new friends and contacts, but that process takes a lot of work.  Those of my age, lost track of more friends than we went on to make, feeling a bit embarrassed by not staying in touch.  Personally, I’m going to take some time in retirement to reel in some of those misplaced friendships.

It is such a great experience to sit down with someone that you haven’t talked to in a while.  In most cases, it’s like you just spoke to them yesterday. That same connection that you made years ago comes back quickly.  You then leave with a feeling that you missed out on so many years of friendship.

Thanks to modern technology – it’s much easier to stay in touch.  Hopefully, this generation will never lose touch of their friends, as my generation did. However, I worry with the level of texting, messaging, and e-mailing that people today never take the time to just sit down and talk.  We make a lot more friends and connections in today’s world but never get to know them the way we did forty or fifty years ago.    Retirement gives us a second chance to acknowledge and enjoy our friendships of the past.   If, of course, we’re lucky enough to all live for that encounter.  Unfortunately, I’ve already lost too many friends that I simply “took for granted” that we would meet again.

It was wonderful to see an “old” friend, and find the same qualities that made you both good friends years ago.  I can’t wait until the next opportunity to reunite happens.  It makes any of the “hassles of retirement” well worth it.