I was reading something today, I can't recall what it is. What I remembered was something the writer wrote - that old friends are the best because they accept you, warts and all. There are no expectations, no common goals that bound everyone together, just acceptance. Old friends meet just to catch up on each other's lives, and that is good enough.

And I cannot help but think how true that is. I am in touch with a primary school classmate, who got married recently. Over the years, our families have become friends - I have known her for 20 years. We were not that close for all the 20 years - after primary school, we went our separate ways, but we stayed in touch somehow, though our meetings may take place months even years apart from each other. And yet, after we both started work (again in different fields and with offices in different parts of Singapore), we meet up more regularly just to chat, to catch up.

It is not just her - I have three very good friends from Dunman High, who I actually drifted apart from in my upper secondary school years, and in my JC years. By some stroke of luck, one of them became my classmate in university, and through her, the four of us got back in touch again, and somehow, never lost touch again, even though we work in different places. We try to meet up as a group in August every year, and for Xmas and New Year. We are four very different gals - and yet we get along well.

There are also friends who you just "click" with, even though you may not know them for very long. I know a gal from NUS Chinese Orchestra. She was a medical student, one year my junior - as far removed from my social circle as it is possible to be and yet be in the Chinese Orchestra. We clicked, somehow, and even today, after we have both left the orchestra, and lost touch with most of our orchestra mates, we still meet up - not often since our crazily-packed schedules clash horrendously - but whenever we do, there is always something to talk about, to do together.

Of course, there are others - but these come immediately to mind. It is as if, after we started work, we cherished the friendships of our youth. Perhaps because we know each other so well - so used to each other's quirks, follies, likes and dislikes. Perhaps, with all the stress of working life, none of us can summon the energy necessary to make more new good friends. Perhaps it is just not possible to make new good friends at the workplace. I don't exactly know why, but it is just so comfortable and relaxing to hang out with these long-time friends.