Friends for Seven Decades Plus

golding76 · ‎05-19-2012

Unlike some famous folks on opposite sides of the political spectrum, my dear friend of seven decades and I were able to meet for lunch today with no one taking our photo and then firing off nasty tweets about us. No one chastised us for having fun, laughing, chatting and enjoying one another's company. Our political views differ, but we spoke not a word about such matters. Rather, we spoke of our loved ones and our lives. And yes, we spoke of the past, having grown up together in the same small town.

We hadn't seen one another in six years. She now lives in Florida. The last time she came north, she was visiting a location too far away for us to meet up. Whenever I see her, we simply pick up where we left off. What a wonderful feeling.

As older women, we now worry when we say goodbye to one another. I am so happy to be her friend and have her in my life.

Foxxee · ‎10-03-2014

Consider yourself fortunate. I know some friends and married couples who have broken up and got divorced because of political differences.

rms1954 · ‎06-06-2019

Are you famous? I don't get the connection with that comment.

kitcat51 · ‎09-15-2016

I think that's the way most people live..we have different opinions but we show respect & get along.

golding76 · ‎05-19-2012

lmtep,

Something happened when former President and Mrs. George W. Bush and Ellen DeGeneres sat next to one another at a recent baseball game. I won't go into it more because the thread might be poofed. I don't want trouble.

It seems President Bush and Ellen are good friends.

Adding this: There was a reason that in years past, people sought to follow the adage that in polite company, one does not discuss sex, religion or politics.

proudlyfromNJ · ‎05-01-2010

Heck my husbands whole family and our whole town and friends in it are totally opposite of us politically. We all get along great. We don’t discuss politics with the family. We care about each other too much to make hard feelings over that. As for the townspeople, eh,what are you going to do?

spiderw · ‎06-14-2010

Growing up I always heard my parents say not to discuss religion or politics since they can cause bad feelings and arguments. That stayed with me and I do just that. My sister and I are the same and my brother is the opposite. We avoid politics because we do not want to create a falling out. Our respect and love for each other means too much.

I still see friends from grammar school, over sixty years of friendships. When we go out we have fun and laughter and all conversation. No phones, no arguments, just sharing history and so many memories. We know each others politics and religions and they will never come between our relationships. It isn't always easy but we have so much to talk about, it has always been like that and our times together uplifting.

haddon9 · ‎03-09-2010

How wonderful that you had a great time with your old friend! I don't understand why politics should have gotten in the way if you happen to have differing opinions. It's unfortunate if it does for some. There are people in my life who have different views from me so when we get together we just don't ever talk about it. There is so much more to life to share & enjoy!

I did see the segment on the news regarding the former president and Ellen. I'm not going to compare myself to them because even though they are the opposite politically neither of them are like me.

CalminHeart · ‎03-09-2010

@Foxxee wrote:
Consider yourself fortunate. I know some friends and married couples who have broken up and got divorced because of political differences.

I'm retired but very active. I went out with a man a few months ago and had a great time...until after dinner when he started talking politics. I could have handled the differences in our political views, even though they were pretty significant, but his tone of voice and the words he used concerned me - a red flag. I nicely suggested we not talk politics but he didn't stop. When he called again, I declined to go out and explained that our views are way too different and it's a matter of ethics and moral character to me. He called me a name which only proved I was correct.

I have a number of female and male friends who have different political views. It does not interfere at all in our friendships. We just don't talk politics.

PamfromCT · ‎05-22-2014

I completely agree that politics should never be brought up in social situations. Even when all share the same views, it’s good to relax and take a break.