Longest Friendship You've Maintained?

[Warrior Kitana]

As many people know, maintaining friendships are hard as the years go by and chances are you aren't going to be able to maintain those same friendships forever. So I ask, what is your longest maintained friendship (offline or online), how active are you both now in maintaining that friendship, and how long have you both been friends.


The longest friendship I've had were with these two girls I've been friends with since the 5th grade. We've had to face bullies together in 5th grade and we stayed friends throughout middle-school. Once I changed schools in high school, we really didn't talk much until the last year of high school where we picked up the friendship where it left off and continued it through my college years. Today, while we might not be exactly as close knit as we once were, I still speak to them whenever I can and are still on very good terms.

[Zubby]

The friend I've had the longest I met in 1981. We live in different states now, but e-mail regularly, and get together whenever I'm back in my home state, 4-5 times a year. I saw him in person this past weekend, actually.

[Michael24]

My current longest friendship will be 13 years this September. We met our freshman year of high school and have remained good friends. I moved out of the area in 1999, but we keep in touch via email and phone, and we manage to get together and hang out a couple times each year. Spent a few days with him just this past March for his dad's birthday and went to San Francisco.

Unfortunately, many of my other friendships with people I had gone to school with drifted apart almost instantly after we all graduated high school. A couple of them I stayed in touch with for a year or two afterwards as we started college in different areas, but even that didn't last for very long. It always saddened me to lose them all (especially so quickly), because I'd spent nearly 12 years of my life with them, having known most of them since Kindergarten and 1st grade (even pre-school in one case). We literally grew up together and went through a lot with each other, and though I recently reconnected with a few of them on MySpace, the majority of them remain "lost" and I doubt I'll ever see them again. But I guess that's what pictures and memories are for. :)

[Adam Tyner]

I still keep in regular contact with my friend Alan (http://www.alancaudel.com/), who was my best friend from sixth grade through eighth grade, even though I haven't lived in Florida for 14 years. :D

[Retro Gigi]

The longest friendship I've held was 6 years... but after 5th grade, I moved and never spoke to (then best friend) him again.

My second longest came in high school.. I've known him for, about 4 years, now... with my friend Heidi coming in second with 3 and half years.. then my best friend with 3 years.

All still going strong.

[solarflere]

Speaking of buddies and just close friends:
I had 3 friends from 7th grade to 12th, from Junior High to High school, then we drifted apart.

Speaking of relationships:
I had a girlfriend for 2 years.

[Gatomon41]

A few friends back during the Freshman year of High School. All Anime and SF fans. About 2 years.

2 years, after moving to a new school, with a Christian girl who's faith intruged me, but we lost touch.

The closest I have no friends is the gaming, anime, and church clubs on campus, running about 3 years.

None of them were very deep though.

[James Bester]

I was friends with this one kid in my school and church for over 7 years. Then he completely changed and constantly tried to gang up on me with other people who didn't like him either. I still have to deal with him and talk to him sometimes, but he is nowhere near being my friend.

I've also maintained a friendship with two of my friends who moved to another state for nearly 7 years. Even though I see them rarely, they're the most trustworthy friends I have.

[Captain Harlock]

I've had the same best friend for 15 years, and it's still going on today as I'm 19. We were friends back when we were both 4 in pre-school.

[Kaoru]

I haven't been able to keep friends since I turned a teenager. Teenagers change all the time and are very unpredictable, including mysefl I will admit. Only long term friends I kept are thousands of miles apart on the internet.

[I.R Joey]

I met a guy in 4th grade that I'm still friends with (We're both 20 now). True we aren't as close as we use to be, but we still talk several times a year.

[Kury Wagner]

Aside from my sister(s), really there's no one. Well, except on TZ. I've been here, what, about two years? Then, that's how long my longest friendship has been (with Gwen). I have had really, really bad luck with friends all my life, though.

I do consider my sisters my friends. The one closest to me in age, moreso. Of course, we've fought over the years, sometimes more often than not; however, when it gets down to it, I really respect and look up to her, and value her time with me. Which is really what friendship means to me.

[Weatherman]

About 14 years, though I haven't seen my friend Andrew very much since he got married. His wife keeps him busy.......no, not like that all the time:p . She just doesn't let him have much free time, and any time he's free I'm busy.:shrug:

[Deadman]

some friends ive been friends with since i was a baby.

[ToOn~g@l]

The longest frienship I have maintained is with a friend from 11th grade and its been about five years. We still hang out all the time, go to movies, go shopping, she puts up with my idocy I put up with her Orlando Bloom loving craziness so its all good. Yeah its a great friendship.

[Colin]

Let's see... my longest, current active friendships... I'd probably say 4 or 5 years... unless you look at the online world, where I've known Brian & Harley for ...uh... I wanna say about 11 years.

However, I have one friend who I sporadically keep in contact with, we've known each other since kindergarten... so that's... *does math* ...22 years.

[Wolfie~Giri]

About 6-7 years. But ya know...it broke away.:sad:

[Harlan_Phoenix]

5 years. Ended last Friday. Goes to show you how religion can tear people apart. I still do not hate him though.

And I never will.

[Zinal]

About 2 years. It broke away 6 months ago.

[One Radical Dude]

Well, I occasionally run into people I've known since my early school years. Though I haven't seen him in years, I had a long friendship with someone since second grade. As far as people I talk to regularly, it would have to be a few friends I've known since late 1999 (met them on a message forum, and I've visted them annually since 2000).

[mookie75]

I guess I'm going on 12 years with my best bud from college. I don't have any friends leftover from high school, but that's because I didn't really want to keep in touch with that part of my life. While everyone was sobbing and saying they would be friends forever on graduation day I was telling the parents to hop in the car so I can get the @#$% out of here. :p

[purplehairedwonder]

I try to stay in contact with my best friend that I've known since kindergarten (graduating high school soon) and my best friend I've known since second grade, though since I moved about five years ago, we've talked less and less. I do my best to keep communication alive, though sometimes it feels like my efforts are being ignored.

I've had my best friend since the move for about five years now. I met her my first day at my new middle school and we're still friends a few days before high school graduation.

[MarineDweller]

Well the longest friendship which I have maintained is with a girl from first grade. Now I am in the tenth grade and she's still my Best Friend:)

[Frank Castle]

My longest running friendship is one of my best friends who I met in Pre-School 14 years ago.

[NewGenious]

I've been best friends with mine for over seven years. Still keep in touch with him.:D

[Clayface]

~29 years. I've known my best friend since the day he was born (he's a year younger than me, and his father and my father were friends before we were born). We grew up together in the same town, then went off to different colleges, but still stayed in touch. Now he's living in the Chicago area, and I'm in MD, and we e-mail back and forth almost daily.

[Melon109]

The longest friendship I have maintained is 17 years with my friend Leanne, who I met when I was five. We used to live next door to each other and our mothers were also good friends. We have since grown apart and I have not seen her in a year, but we keep in touch online.

[Anniemaniac]

Probably around 8 years, but she wasnt really a true friend... Lately we've been growing apart really rapidly. We rarely speak and when we do its only on msn. Havnt seen her in over a year.

either that or 12 years with someone else, but i moved away when i was 5, and only just got back in touch with her about a year ago, were still really good friends though and still have loads in common, but we didnt have any contact with each other for about 10 years so i guess it depends which way you look at it.

[DaphHime]

Longest friendship would have to be my one friend I met around 1st and 2nd grade. We were both considered outcasts and were friends on and off right up untill the end of our high school year. I still see her occasioinally, she works at a grocery store my family frequents and I small talk with her sometimes.

Longest online friendship was with the people at the Animated Lust (not a porn site I sware!) forums. It was the first forum I ever freqented and they've always been the nicest people. I still post there every once and awhile. I've chatted with them since I was around 12 or 13, so that whould be about 6 or 7 years.

[Elven Moon]

I have one friendship that's about 12 years long, but we've been drifting lately and I don't know where I stand with her.

I have another that's almost as long as I've been alive, but we rarely see each other and email each other maybe a few times a year.

[Neo Ultra Mike]

The longest regular friendship I've mainted (having actually seen the friend like every week and not every couple of years) would have to be 6 and a half years ago when I met my best friend James. Sadly others in our friendship group have come and gone for various reasons but we've remained pretty tight so that's good at least.