Make New Friends...But Keep the Old

I learned the song, "Make New Friends But Keep the Old" in Girl Scouts. The lyrics continue, "One Is Silver; the Other Gold."

This certainly was true the past two weeks on a cruise to Greenland and Iceland when there was a combination of friends from my home town since elementary school and new friends from my Florida community.

They got along beautifully! It made me stop and think that the friends I selected in my youth and the friends I made after retirement have the same characteristics: They are bright; They are are interesting; They are trustworthy; They are dependable; They are "low maintenance"; They are loyal; and they are just plain fun to be with!

We can help our children make and keep friends by instilling these values in them and teaching them how to find friends who have the same interests and values they have.

We can also teach them positive communication skills by engaging them in meaningful conversations at home. This includes learning how to handle disagreements and controlling emotions.

Both keeping long-time friends and establishing new ones takes effort but is so worthwhile!