Certain friends remind you of who you are…or who you were…once upon a time. Sure we grow up and change and improve and degenerate to some extent…but having people in your life who knew you when and who know you now as well…are rare treasures.

I often hear some of my current friends speaking about old school friends…or old work coleagues, or people who have shared significant periods of time in close proximity to them and how they see them often or how these people are still a part of their everyday life. It sometimes makes me sad because I feel like I have no one around me now who “knew me” a long time ago. There is nothing more fun for me than getting together with a friend and reliving memories and having a laugh over something that is still funny 5-15 years on.

These friends fast turn into memories and images that dance across my mind and in the pages of scrap books due to the long stretches of time that pass since the last time we’ve spent any real time together. Yet these friends carry pieces of me with them. They share memories that I share, and they still remain close to my heart and stay with me wherever I go.

There is something so precious to me about being known. About being understood. About having people who you can be yourself around and it’s fine because they know you. They know what you’re like. They can look at your life now and see it in the light of the larger picture of your world….and understand things that often hard to explain to someone who’s only known you in the most recent context of the present.

I hope now that I am settled for the moment that I will continue to nurture the relationships with those special people who have been a part of my history…and at the same time, nurture the relationships I have around me so that they become the friends that know me too. I have some wonderful friends here in England, and they too are now weaving their way into my history.

In July I spent a few precious days with Louise at Elaine’s wedding…a few days ago I also had a letter from the legendary Annie from South Africa….and most recently I’ve had my friend Nicole who I’ve known since I was 16 here with me in England for ten days….treasures for my soul….taking me back to me.