One of the interesting things about getting older is that the range of friends and acquaintances keeps expanding. It gives one a wider perspective on the world as the range grows, probably making it possible to be a better friend as time marches on.

When I was in my twenties, so were most of my friends. There were some exceptions, mostly professors and business colleagues. But when it came time to have people over for dinner or otherwise socialize, the group was mostly of a similar age.

As the decade of my thirties passed, the range widened. I now had friends in their twenties and some as old as {*gasp*} their forties. People in their fifties were part of a strange and outre world that just barely intersected my social life. (Or who threw the really good business parties!)

Needless to say the range of friends continued to blossom through the decades. Now that I am in my fifties, I have friends that range from their twenties to their nineties. And I find I like the breadth of view points that brings to my life. It also makes me wonder what kind of an idiot I was in my younger years not to intentionally seek out friendships with those of dissimilar ages at that time.

How about you? Have you found your circle of friendship ranging further afield as you have matured (Sounds so much better than aged, doesn’t it?)?

I’ll leave you with this picture of a few friends sharing a good laugh a few years ago.  I am the only non-octogenarian in the picture. From left to right: myself, a well-know rancher and conservationist, and the person least constrained by social convention I know (and also the most likely to make any party memorable).