Friends My Own Age

Friends My Own Age

I was recently talking to my therapist and the conversation turned to friends.  After a while, she suggested that I find some friends who are my own age.  I laughed!  That is easier said than done.  I have always been the young one or the old one.  I was put into school one year earlier than normal so I was quite often more than one year younger than my classmates.  That isn’t a big deal now, but when the difference is a 5 vs. 7-year-old or a 14 vs. 16-year-old, it is huge.  When I finally had my only biological child, I was 41 years old.  Even the “older” mothers weren’t as old as I was; I was closer in age to some of the grandmothers. 

I have younger and older friends.  Some are young enough to be my children and some are old enough to be my parents.  I even have some who are close to my age.  The problem that I have is that people who are close to my age are not at the same place in life that I am.  None of them still have a 15-year-old child at home.  Their children are grown and out of the house.  They have a freedom that I don’t (and I am in no hurry to be at that stage – it will come soon enough). 

My life is good.  I’m going to leave well enough alone.  If I find a new friend “my own age”, great!  If not, great!  To me it is more important to have good friends and that is something that I am blessed with already.