Having good old friends is a good thing， but making new ones can be even better。 No matter what age we are， all of us appreciate the support and help which friends give us。 The help may be for only a small thing， or it may be for something that could save our life。 The size of the help or support is not really the most important thing， but the fact of having friends is very important。 Ive just made a new friend， Joan。 Shes not just another person I can talk with or wave to as we pass one another on the street， but a good friend。 She is someone who will go out with me for lunch， or drop by my home for a cup of tea。 She is someone who will listen and make me feel understood the next time I may feel sad or worried for no apparent reason。 This is no small matter for me。 I barely have enough time or energy to keep up with my old friends， let alone make new ones。 But， as I grow older， and I am now 35 years old， it is important to me to have a safety net of friends。 Holes keep opening up in the net as old friends move away。 Ive got to spend energy now to include new friends。
有要好的朋友是件好事，但結交新朋友會更好。不論我們的年齡有多大，我們都感激朋友給予我們的支援和幫助。這些幫助可能只是一件小事，或者是可以拯救我們生命的大事。這些幫助和支援的大小並不最重要的，重要的是能夠擁有這些朋友。 我新交了一個朋友，Joan，結識她並不僅僅是多了一個在街上碰到時打個招呼或說說話的人，她是個可靠的朋友。她有時和我一起出去午餐，有時會到我家來喝一杯茶，有時會來傾聽我並且把我弄懵，也有可能下次她又會無理由的'讓我感到悲傷和擔憂。 這些對我來說都沒關係。我沒有足夠的時間和精力去與老朋友們保持聯絡，更不用說結交新朋友。但是，當我年齡慢慢大了，到現在35歲的時候，有一個穩固的朋友圈對我來說非常重要，這個圈子的門經常開著，因為老朋友會離開，我現在也要花費更多精力去結交新的朋友。
