Having gotten &quot;old&quot; by some definitions, I&#x27;ve increasingly experienced the &quot;friend problem&quot;.  The article seemed to be addressing a &quot;non-old&quot; segment of the population, so I think it&#x27;s appropriate to offer a few observations from a different perspective.<p>It&#x27;s not just me of course, even my very friendly wife notices dwindling friendships despite putting a lot of energy into keeping them going.  We often ask each other &quot;why is that?&quot;, but so far neither of us has a clue.<p>The circle diminishes gradually, incrementally, the loss is one by one.  Friends known for decades die, develop dementia, or move two thousand miles away to be near family.<p>Friends are people and don&#x27;t always change for the better.  It&#x27;s puzzling and painful when long-standing friends grow &quot;weird&quot; and unfriendly.  It happens, no way to explain it, no known illness or infirmity removes them, just another kind of loss to grasp.<p>Losses of such kinda are truly irreplaceable.  Sure making new friends is wonderful and necessary but never quite the same.  Thankfully a few stalwart friends are still around.<p>Experts all agree having more friends is better, thing is, starting new friendships is a constant and steep challenge in later life.  We find opportunity is sparse, contemporaries hesitant to take up the offer, or distracted by a plethora of family, health, and economic demands.  The experts aren&#x27;t saying how to solve these issues.<p>If there is a key it must be the willingness to be persistent, not give up the effort to enrich the network of connectedness.  Here and there people do respond, and a relationship slowly begins to form.