When I was in my twenties, so were most of my friends. There were some exceptions, mostly professors and business colleagues. But when it came time to have people over for dinner or otherwise socialize, the group was mostly of a similar age.
As the decade of my thirties passed, the range widened. I now had friends in their twenties and some as old as {*gasp*} their forties. People in their fifties were part of a strange and outre world that just barely intersected my social life. (Or who threw the really good business parties!)
Needless to say the range of friends continued to blossom through the decades. Now that I am in my fifties, I have friends that range from their twenties to their nineties. And I find I like the breadth of view points that brings to my life. It also makes me wonder what kind of an idiot I was in my younger years not to intentionally seek out friendships with those of dissimilar ages at that time.
How about you? Have you found your circle of friendship ranging further afield as you have matured (Sounds so much better than aged, doesn't it?)?
I'll leave you with this picture of a few friends sharing a good laugh a few years ago. I am the only non-octogenarian in the picture. From left to right: myself, a well-know rancher and conservationist, and the person least constrained by social convention I know (and also the most likely to make any party memorable).
I find the age range of my friends has grown over the years and agree 100% that having friends spanning different age groups rounds out a conversation with different perspectives.
ReplyDeleteYup, I think it's the natural order of things. As we get older we realize we can learn a little bit from everyone and seek that knowledge out. At least I do anyways.
ReplyDeleteYes, good insight. The more living I have done, the broader the age range for socializations. With the little ones though, this time in our lives does not feature much social interactions beyond parents.
ReplyDeleteI have always seemed to get along with people of any age. I remember in high school that I was as good of friends with my friends parents as I was with them. Sometimes moreso. Now I find that I have friends in all age groups, I always thought I was wierd. According to you though I just matured early. ;)
ReplyDeleteMy parents were very strict and so we didn't really get to socialize with people our own age. We always hung out with our parents and grandparents and THEIR friends. I think I learned a lot from all of them though :)
ReplyDeleteMost of the people I associate with are in their teens or 6 or 7 years old. I'm hoping that will change as my children get older. Seriously I have found that my friends ages are all over the board though for some reason I still don't care to socialize with people in their twenties. They think they know it all, they can drink me under the table and the look a lot better than I do and yet don't have the intelligence to carry on a conversation about much except the current pop culture. Teens on the other hand are a lot of fun.
ReplyDeletewhat were ya laughing at....
ReplyDeleteI think it's the natural order of things. As we get older we realize we can learn a little bit from everyone and seek that knowledge out. At least I do anyways.
ReplyDeleteWork from home India