I've been thinking about friends a lot lately - most recently because I just rediscovered my best friend from childhood online, after stumbling across her photos on display in Mac Hall. (as an aside, she writes an absolutely fantastic blog, and is a really good photographer)
I think about my childhood, growing up with friends in Canyon Meadows, a lot. I didn't realize how much I think about it, and talk about it, until I told my son that I'd found my friend online again. He asked me if it was the friend with the boomerang. Dang. Yes. She had a boomerang, and I stupidly threw it and nearly took her head off when it came back (thankfully/unfortunately landing in a pond instead). I'd been telling him the stories of my childhood because they have shaped who I am.
And I realize that in spite of this, I have been (and continue to be) a terrible friend. I'm distant. I'm difficult to connect with. I isolate myself, and push people away. I think about my friends all the time, but don't act.
I've done this all my life - and it's something I want to change. I'm distant from everyone except my immediate family. I'm loosely bound to everyone else. I interact with my friends (and extended family) primarily online. I know I won't be able to change completely, nor immediately, but I need to make an effort.
also, it's no coincidence that when I picture the happiest times of hanging out with friends in recent years, it's been at casa del lamb/mcphee with a group of really incredible people.