A Tribute to Old Socks

"Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold." 

I learned this little ditty during my two-year stint with the Girl Scouts. Wanting to give proper credit to the author, I turned to the Google to see who owned these words of wisdom. It seems the jury is out. The response was mostly "anonymous" -- except for one website, which attributed it to composer Joseph Parry.

This morning I awoke with this chestnut, complete with its jaunty tune, going through my mind. What stuck was the thought of old friends and what they bring to the party. I thought about a pair of old socks. How comfortable they are, how they keep your feet warm and safe, but you don't think about them much. They're just there, day in and day out, doing their thing.

Then I started to compile a list in my head of why old friends shouldn't be taken for granted. Now I'm going to torture you, too. So here we go.

1. You can pass gas, and an old friend will pretend nothing is amiss, even when the green odorous waves are overpowering. (I'm talking about women friends here, obviously.)

2. They know what to do when you're in a foul mood. (In my case, it involves giving me space. And lots of it.)

3. They let you talk when you need to, even when they've heard that song before.

4. A friend will read your blog faithfully. And not tell you when it put them to sleep or made them itchy.

5. You can depend on a friend to pull the random cat hair from the back of your sweater. Or tell you there's a piece of spinach stuck between your front teeth. Or that your socks don't match.

6. A friend knows when you need a cup of coffee. Stat.

7.  There are codes between old friends that only the two of you understand. Sometimes you only need to say a word or two to crack them up.

8. Old friends pretend to believe you're going to stick with your latest project, even though they know it's probably going to head off to the same place to die as all of your other new projects.

9. With all of your foibles and shortcomings, and despite the fact that you sometimes take them for granted, an old friend puts up with you.

10. Old friends just know. And they don't hold that against you.

To all of my friends (and family, who double as friends), know that I appreciate every one of you.

And, please, don't take the "old sock" thing personally. I meant it in the best possible way!