https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/1ia4fwz/how_many_of_your_oldest_friends_are_kindred/
created by Walaina on 26/01/2025 at 03:07 UTC
8 upvotes, 22 top-level comments (showing 22)
Comment by AutoModerator at 26/01/2025 at 03:07 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See this post[1], the rules, and the sidebar for details. Thank you for your submission, Walaina.
2: /message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople
Comment by Granny_knows_best at 26/01/2025 at 03:13 UTC
6 upvotes, 2 direct replies
One. We've been friends since 1978 and in high school. We have gone long periods without talking and when we talk again it's like no time has passed.
We get each other.
Comment by Nightgasm at 26/01/2025 at 03:16 UTC
6 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Friends?
Comment by Rickardiac at 26/01/2025 at 03:59 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Sadly, most of my childhood friends, a hardcore group formed in middle school and filled out a little in high school and finished and sealed in college, have died. A group of about fifteen. The opioid and then meth epidemic really took a toll on us older Xers. Three out of the hellraisers moved off and never came back. I don’t talk to them much and haven’t seen two of them in years. The one who only lives about an hour away I see a few times a year. We have the same taste in music so we still go to concerts sometimes.
Of the three that came back after college like me, two run local business like I did. My part time retirement job is as a consultant. Every few months at least, when I need to contract out for a product or service either one provides, I personally visit their place and catch up/reminisce.
The other one came back to town more recently but it’s been a few years now. He is my first friend. We met at daycare when we were four years old. We were always the first kids there arriving before six in the morning because that’s when both our mom’s shifts started. We went to that nursery school together before and after school until third grade but we went to different elementary schools. The daycare had a van that took us to our schools and retrieved us when school was out.
The summer after third grade my mom changed jobs and our living situation changed so daycare was no longer necessary. I also left the private school for public school at the start of fourth grade but still, a different one. My friend and I were reunited in middle school and built our group. We belong to the same social club since he’s been back so we see each other fairly frequently.
Any of these guys, whether I last saw them ten days, weeks, or years ago, it’s like we were just together yesterday.
Tl;Dr: Yes. The friends I shared my youth with are kindred spirits.
Thanks for prompting my reminiscing.
Comment by Chzncna2112 at 26/01/2025 at 03:23 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
We used to mesh extremely well. Too bad I am the last survivor of the big group of friends
Comment by challam at 26/01/2025 at 03:37 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
They’re all dead. (Not kidding, not being snarky.)
Comment by Suitable-Lawyer-9397 at 26/01/2025 at 06:06 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
My only kindred spirit died 20 years ago.
Comment by 520Madison at 26/01/2025 at 10:17 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I met my longtime best friend at high school football tryouts in 1968. He’s an honorary uncle to my kids and the only person that I truly trusted and respected. He was there for me 24/7 when my wife passed and I would have stepped in front of a freight train if not for him. Alzheimer’s has now taken him over. His family is devastated. I’m angry and my kids are all extremely upset. I’m crying now.
Comment by wjbc at 26/01/2025 at 03:24 UTC*
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I have about 10 older friends who are kindred spirits, not including family.
Edit: And after reading these replies, I feel lucky to have that many.
Comment by OodaWoodaWooda at 26/01/2025 at 04:07 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
All of them, though they're few in number. Quality not quantity.
Comment by Lacylanexoxo at 26/01/2025 at 05:09 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
One
Comment by VirtualSource5 at 26/01/2025 at 05:25 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I have 3 friends but they’re scattered across the country now. I met them in different decades but all in FL. My oldest and weirdest friend got her doctorate at UCF and is a professor in Nebraska. A former co-worker friend still lives in FL and is retired, travels. My grounded friend lives in Oregon and recently got married, probably won’t see much of her now. I left FL in 2017, moved to Reno. Even if it’s a month or two between texts or phone calls, we pick right up where we left off. I have a guy friend that I met five years ago at a trivia Meet Up here in Reno and we meet weekly for dinner, cribbage, tv or whatever…strictly friends. I’d like more local female friends to go hiking or hang out with, it’s just not as easy to make new friends as you get older. My four friends are kindred spirits, just in different ways. Others in FL are friends I keep up with, mainly old co-workers.
Comment by anonknit at 26/01/2025 at 07:26 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
One of each!
Comment by According-Drawing-32 at 26/01/2025 at 08:16 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
A few, graduated HS in 77. Many good friends, a few close friends
Comment by Separate_Today_8781 at 26/01/2025 at 12:56 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I have newer friends that are kindred spirits also
Comment by Outdoor-Snacker at 26/01/2025 at 13:03 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Two. The rest have died.
Comment by chasonreddit at 26/01/2025 at 13:44 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I would count my oldest friends as about 6 I met between 1968 and 1983. Yes, all kindreds or I wouldn't still be talking to them 50 years later.
They are in what? Ohio, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Nevada, and Colorado. We still get together fairly often.
Comment by implodemode at 26/01/2025 at 15:20 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I've never met a kindred spirit. What's that like?
Comment by Mysterious_Tax_5613 at 26/01/2025 at 17:19 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
One. My friend, Dawn I've known for 30+ years. She accepts me just the way I am.
Comment by GreenSouth3 at 26/01/2025 at 21:47 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
most
Comment by TheFairyGardenLady at 27/01/2025 at 00:40 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I have two best friends. One I met when we were 6. The other I met when we were 9. We are now 74. I sometimes wonder if we would have much in common if we met today. But, since we have lived our lives together, we have everything in common.
Comment by shastadakota at 27/01/2025 at 01:33 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
So many of them turned into trumpsters, so now I just tolerate them and don't discuss politics, at best. Some are too far gone into the cult to even do this.