League_Girl wrote:
As for friends, friends were kids you played with.
It's interesting that you brought this up. As a child---that's ages 0 thru 10---I did have friends, close friends too. But looking back, I do wonder if I wanted actual friends or just kids to play with; basically, what I'd now call "activity partners". That is, did I truly appreciate them as friends, or just liked having them around because they were willing to play with me? Sadly, I lost those friends when my family moved across the country when I was 10.
Between ages 10 to 16-ish that I had no friends at all. In later years of high school, I did make new friends, and they were my regular social group for about 12 years since. Unlike as a child, possibly, I did appreciate them for
who they were, not just for them being willing to hang out with me. Those long-time friends got into very serious relationships in recent years, and pulled away from me to an extent.
In 2011, I joined some activity-specific social groups. This caused things to come full circle to my childhood, since I hung out with those people specifically for the activities they participated it, like pickup sports games in a park or board games. Some of those people became true friends since then, particularly after my friends got into relationships, when I started to lean on those groups for my socialization needs.