Should old acquintance be forgot and never brought to mind?

Rule: You make friends during the years but you do not keep in contact with them all the time
Exception: Thank you Internet for making it possible to keep in touch!

Once upon a time friends were people you shared something with: you lived close, you were family, you were working togeteher, you shared the same hobby or you regularly visited and kept the friendship going.

And, of course, if you moved, stopped going to that specific work place or doing that specific hobby - you lost your friends.

Some of them you heard from once a year when the Christmas cards arrived.

But then, Christmas cards grew out of fashion and there was silence.

Till now. Facebook, Multiply, Blogs (like this one), NetLog, StayFriends - and good old e-mail and text and chatt - they all help you to keep your friends.

Yesterday I mailed two old schoolfriends and was reminded that next year it is 30 years since we left school. I have met them once since then, 20 years ago... And now, thanks to Stayfriends I have met them again. One of them lives in the same town as I do!

I can also keep in touch with my Estonian friends and due to the fact that they share their pictures online I can see their children and grandchildren grow up.

Thanks to Skype I can make longer longer calls and thanks to e-mail I can send pictures and messages that will reach people immediately.

But, as my teacher said the other day: When did I get a hand written letter last time?

I think I can answer - when my dear old friend Ester encouraged us during our stay in Ireland. Ester was a firm believer of the post office and sent letters every week to family and friends.

So, keeping in touch is easier, so easy maybe that we forget the special thing about receiving a handwritten letter.