Like fine wines, old friends really do get better with age.

Make the effort to stay connected with your long-lost/time friends. In a busy world with the many obligations that people have, it's easy to put off any emails or texts that aren't absolutely necessary. However, make it a practice to check in with the people you've known the longest at least once every few months. And use social media to find your long-lost best friends. It's so easy now to track people down through Facebook and LinkedIn that, armed with a little bit of knowledge, you can search for the people who meant the most to you when you were younger. This doesn't mean you should stalk your ex, but that you can use social media responsibly to reconnect.

When you've got limited time left in a particular situation, you're more likely to seek the friends who satisfy the emotion function of friendships. This is why, as people get older, when we perceive time to be running out, we prefer relationships that bolster our positive emotions. However, it's not only getting older that leads us to prefer our long-term friends. In any situation that we perceive to be time-limited, we seek out the people who fulfill the emotional function of a relationship.

Last evening, my high school class was able to round up about 40 people just to get drinks! It has been 8 years since I graduated high school so it was just about 8 years since I saw most of them in the room. But what the coolest thing was….it was like no one skipped a beat. Everyone was laughing, drinking, enjoying each others time, and most importantly we were supporting each other. Supporting and listening about others careers, families, and ambitions. Eating tator tots till 2am. The fact that 40 people came together just to see one another on a random Saturday night in February was easily one of the coolest things I’ve put together. Our class has had quite a few deaths since our graduation and it really has hit us hard. You never know when the last time you will see someone is. 

When you graduate high school, you go separate ways. You find new people and you go down new paths. You assume that you will see your classmates again at your 10 year reunion, but what if they don’t make it? Work on the relationships you have now. Preserving a long-time friendship takes effort. Thank you to all of my high school classmates for making an effort last night. You may not appreciate how much you're going to miss your high school or 20-something friends until they're no longer around. Hang onto those phone numbers, email addresses and other contact information and put some time into keeping those bonds alive.

Old friends matter, because they fulfill our deepest emotional needs for connectedness. It's not only that we feel more comfortable with them (which we do) but that they know how to make us feel good. At another level, old friends can also validate your sense of self. They accept you for who you are, flaws and all, and reinforce your own identity as a person who matters. Like fine wines, old friends really do get better with age. Appreciate the ones you have now because they will be the ones to boost your emotions in the future.