One is Silver....

Anybody who has done anything with girlscouts will know this "Make new friends, but keep the old..."Everybody sing! "One is silver and the other's gold"



This could be the theme song for military life. The challenge was staying in touch with the old as you were out meeting the new.

20 years ago if you didn't keep up with letters or phone calls than all you could pretty much do was think to yourself "Hmmm...I wonder what so-and-so is up to these days. I really wish I had held onto their address."

10 years ago, it got a little easier with e-mail.

Now? Now it is so easy to look up old friends that you almost don't have an excuse not to keep in touch. Aaah, were would be with out MySpace and Facebook.

Here's a great example for you. I got into Facebook about a year ago. At first all of my Facebook Friends were just family or people that I currently know. In the last 6 months or so, I have started connecting with people that I knew in high school and even middle school.

I think the best "skill" that I have gotten out of military life is the ease in meeting knew people. Along with that is learning how to connect with people even when you wouln't think you would have anything to say to a person.

Case in point: I recently connect with an old friend that I last saw in 1995. That was 14 years ago. We've IM'ed a few times and now have started talking on the phone. Before I called this person up, I was thinking to myself, "What in the world are we going to talk about? I have see this or talked to this person for almost 15 years, we probably have nothing in common anymore. I have a feeling this is going to be a very awkward phone call." I was so surprised!! The first time we talked, we talked for a couple of hours. The next night, we spent all night talking! I think the only reason we hung up the phone was because my phone battery died.

The friends you make in the military may not physically be around you for very long, but they are the friends you make for life.