Seeking advice later in life from someone you trusted in youth

Is it easier to make friends in youth than in middle age?

Dear M Elliott,

I hope now that we have been reacquainted that you know that your kindness and indeed your interactions with me as a teenager left quite a deposit. It has been as life continued that I realise, simply by being you, you taught me a lot.

Now I write seeking advice from you as someone in midlife. I like my own company and working on my own though at times I can feel lonely. It seems like friends were easier made in youth than now yet I wonder why that should be. Is it age, marriage, work or all three?

I would welcome your thoughts on how you have witnessed humans developing at particular points of life. I could go on and ask about marriage and its development but my space has gone.

Best,

g

PS to all who read this I encourage you to do the same