Another point: people often talk about the caregiver role a younger person might fall into-- but there's something horrible that happens even before that, which I don't think has a name. As people get older, they lose stamina and the physical ability to do things they did when they were younger. Sometimes this seems to happen overnight.

I find myself in a position now where my older friends are getting to be too old to do anything. This is incredibly difficult to deal with. I'm in my 30s and still interested in active adventures, but my friends want to sit around drinking coffee and chit chatting. It can be even worse if they want to come along on an outing they simply don't have the physical stamina for.

It is very hard to make good decisions in these matters. Do I invite my friend on a trip out of town and never go anywhere that's more than five minutes from the car? Or do I go on my own and explore at my own pace?

Anyway, I again wish that I had learned to interact with my peers rather than go outside my group. My older friends probably wish that too. Some of them surrounded themselves with young friends, most of whom are dropping out of the picture, becoming busy with their own young families or careers, or, like me, interested in more active pursuits.