When Jeremy called, inviting me out for coffee, I thought something must be wrong, or that he must have some weighty matter to discuss.

Anyway, I went and we had a good time, but nothing serious was mentioned. Thinking he might need help raising the real subject, I asked what had been on his mind.

“Oh, nothing,” he said, a little surprised. “I just thought that after two years of lockdowns and isolations and of seeing almost no one, it might be time to start re-establishing friendships. I hope that doesn’t sound too cold.”

Not at all. In fact, it sounded like a thing a good friend would do. And I wished I’d thought of it first!

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American philosopher, would have understood. It was he who wrote, “A man should keep his friendships in constant repair.”

Now... is there anyone you haven’t seen for a while?