Those laughs, those unique friendships and bonds that at the time seemed so strong and yet over the years eroded. These were times before the omnipresence of social media, the ease of contact with mobile phones, email and all the various messaging services. But times have changed and Friends Reunited laid down the groundwork for the possibility of contacting lost acquaintances and revisiting those unbeatable friendships and simpler times.
Now the art of tracking down old friends from school, college or uni has been streamlined and taken to new levels of simplicity and is as easy as entering the name of your places of study and searching for friends with which you wish to re-establish contact. With people getting married, changing names and a growing number disillusioned with Facebook it is becoming more and more difficult to rely on that particular site as the go-to place to conduct your search, so the opportunity has become ripe for others to go about the task in a more reliable, specialized manner.
So, there has never been a better time than now to go hunting for long lost friends and alumni and perhaps organize a bit of a reunion. The world has changed so much over the last 20-30 years and if you are now in or approaching your 40s, with or without children it would be fascinating to take that trip down memory lane, not to mention find out what your old friends have done with their lives so far, where they live, where they have travelled and what they make of all this! Shared experiences when you are young and perhaps in your formative years are unbelievably strong and as you probably know, live long in the memory. And yet we all can have very different perspectives of the same events and revisiting them can yield fascinating new ways of thinking about them that can bring laughs, tears, joy and even a bit of closure if necessary.
With a huge database of primary and secondary schools, colleges and university on SchoolMates and the ability to easily add more, the search for long lost alumni has never been easier. Of course, the more people who take the time to register and enter their details, the more the possibilities of re-forging those contacts and bonds will grow. And grow they will. Ours is an era of networking, of bonds that know no geographical boundaries and that an age that makes turning back the clock to the best days of our lives more possible than ever before. Who knows, your new best friend just might be your oldest one.
Keep in touch
Curious and want to find out what people did next? Life teaches us that people are full of surprises. Share new stories, as well as shared memories
Make peace
Not all school friendships were smooth sailing. Maybe we treated some of our old school mates less than fairly but It’s never too late to reach out the olive branch and make amends.
Find love
It may be clichéd, but there are so many stories of people getting back together with an old flame. If there is an old love that you find yourself unable to forget, what have you got to loose?
Extend your business network
Trust is hard to come by, so why not get back in touch with that particular friend who you feel would be perfect for that role or business venture?