These people are real to me, and situations keep coming up where their emergence feels natural. It's like meeting old friends. I hope readers feel the same way.

Old friends are best.

To be with old friends is very warming and comforting.

I just feel so fortunate, A, that I'm able to talk to people and B, keep in contact with my real friends.

There are things that I can tell my friends that I just can't tell my family, just as far as how I'm feeling about things. My friends know me the best in a certain way. I just think old friends are really, really important.

If you're old enough to have a job and to have a life, you use Facebook exactly as advertised, you look up old friends.