My 21st birthday dinner...Oh so formal then! I was talking with a friend the other day about friendship. About how it impacts on our lives, from childhood and teenage friends, to becoming friends with boyfriends’s friends, husband’s friends and their wives, parents of other school children, social club friends, friends after divorce or death of a partner, passing friendships, acquaintances…and now virtual friends. It’s complicated. And I am finding in my “middle” years that my need for friends has reduced…not that I don’t value and cherish my friends, but my actual need has lessened. Why, I wonder? I used always be a “People who need People” (with apologies to whoever wrote the song made famous in Funny Girl ) sort of a person. I was always out and about, making sure that I saw my friends, knew all that was going on with them and theirs. Afternoon tea for the girls...with bubbles! However, as the years have moved ...