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More than 30 years ago, when I took my first job in New York City, I found myself working with a number of young women. Some I got to know just in passing, but others gradually became my friends. Today, six of these women remain an important part of my life. They are more than simply friends, more even than close friends. They are old friends, as indispensable as sunshine and more dear to me than ever. These people share a long-standing history with me. In fact, old friends are a lot like promises. They put reliability into the uncertainty of life and establish a reassuring link between the past, present,and future. The attachment between friends who have known each other for many years is bound to be complex. On occasion we are exceedingly close, and at other times one or both of us invariably step back. Ebb and flow. Thick and thin. How smoothly and gently we negotiate these hills and valleys has everything to do with how well the friendship ages. Sometimes events intervene in a way that requires us to rework the term of a relationship. A friend starts a second career, lets say, and suddenly has less free time. | 
