I had lunch this week with one of my old friends. We don't like to use the term old because it reminds us that we are at that point where time moves faster than we do.

It's funny when we do get together it's like we just talked yesterday. We know each other's deepest secrets as well as the names of our kids boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives and grandchildren.

I hadn't actually seen my old friend for nearly three years, but we have always stayed in touch with phone calls and e-mails.

We spent several hours in a restaurant and then moved outside to a bench at Metropolis Shopping Center. We became unruly, couldn't stop laughing at old stories and began singing songs ending with the poem turned Girl Scout song by Joseph Parry that begins, "Make new friends, but keep the old; Those are silver, these are gold. . . Friendships that have stood the test- time and change- are surely best. Brow may wrinkle, hair grow gray, friendship never knows decay."

It goes on but you get the gist. Old friends are best. But, we have to remember that old friends were once new friends.

I met Daina in 1987 having just moved back to Indiana from Florida. She worked in another building but became a reporter for the newsletter I edited. Over time we have worked similar or the same jobs, are artsy fartsy types with entrepreneurial bends. (We like to make and sell, write and sell, and cook and sell stuff). We also both have marketing manager backgrounds.

She was a crazy redhead with an infectious laugh and a sense of humor about everything. We talked in meetings, met for lunch, visited each other's homes, had Tupperware and candle parties and just generally shared our lives.

Oddly, my mother and both her parents died around the same time. We had similar experiences after our fathers died, believe in angels and have adjusted to being orphans now that the folks are gone. And, we are comfortable telling each other our feelings about all of that.

Since moving to Greencastle six years ago, I don't get an opportunity to see my old friends as often as I would like. But, I intend to remedy that situation. We both have busy lives; she and her husband Larry have adopted five Chinese children, four of whom are at home. And, they have two grown children as well. I only have Bo at home but I want to spend more time with him, my daughters, grandkids and my stepson, all who live away from this area. And, of course, I never get enough time with my husband.

Still, it was a wonderfully warm and comforting time to be with my friend who knows all about me, and still likes me. Sometimes we just have to set priorities and make time for old friends.

I read a piece somewhere that described how your ideas of a friend change over time. I thought I would share a little of it.

In first grade your idea of a good friend was the person who went to the bathroom with you and held your hand as you walked through the scary hall. In third grade it was the person who shared their lunch with you when you forgot yours on the bus.

In fifth grade it was the person who saved a seat on the back of the bus for you. In sixth it was the person who went up to your new crush, and asked them to dance with you, so that if they said no you wouldn't have to be embarrassed.

In eighth grade it was the person who helped you pack up your stuffed animals and old baseball but didn't laugh at you when you finished and broke out into tears.

In ninth grade it was the person who would go to a party thrown by a senior so you wouldn't wind up being the only freshman there.

In tenth grade was the person who changed their schedule so you would have someone to sit with at lunch

At graduation it was the person who helped you clean up the bottles from that party. And later that summer helped you pack up for college and just silently hugged you as you looked through blurry eyes at 18 years of childhood.

Now, your idea of a good friend is still the person who gives you the better of the two choices, holds your hand when you're scared, helps you fight off those who try to take advantage of you, thinks of you at times when you are not there, reminds you of what you have forgotten, helps you put the past behind you but understands when you need to hold on to it a little longer, stays with you so that you have confidence, helps you deal with pressure from others, smiles for you when they are sad, helps you become a better person, and most importantly can sit on a bench in a public place and sing songs like, "Make new friends, but the keep the old, those are silver, these are gold."