reason why you don't keep up with certain people that you've met in your life, isn't there? You (and they) aren't that interested! I really don't have many friends these days .. and certainly only two I would consider as close .. but I shan't 'bust a gut' trying to revive any old alliances .. I do have acquaintances at my rugger club, but none that I see socially outside of that sphere .. for as long as I can recall I have maintained a 'wall' around myself allowing access to my inner sanctum to very few indeed .. I think I've been the architect of my own solitude, and yes I do feel lonely at times, but it's how I've been for the whole of my life .. and it's probably how I'll remain. Friendship has SHARING at the centre of it. Once we stop sharing, we lose our friends because there isn't much to connect with. That's why looking up old friends is never really a good idea because friendships break for a key reason: through personal evolution, and new priorities and perspectives. That's why no broken friendship can really revert back to how it was. The two people would have changed in many ways, and would certainly have developed different needs. If we are developing year to year, with accumulating knowledge and experience, it means that the friends we had when we were younger and more 'innocent' would not really satisfy our more mature needs as we