Old friends are often the best, but not always. You can't rewrite history with an old friend. He knows you. If you've been saying you fought in the Tet offensive, you have to worry that this "friend" will reveal that the only battle you took part in was in Manhattan...in a bar. He may also disclose that you didn't go to Yale and are Ukrainian instead of being descended from Thomas Jefferson. But the truth that an old friend knows is your continuity with the long ago. Possibly he has known you longer than your wife (or wives) and children. He may even have known your parents. It is reassuring that he is here, whatever the present terms of your friendship. I have one friend I have known since childhood and he is like no other friend. We have memories to keep alive our departed friends and families. It is almost a holy bond. （注） Tet offensive=ベトナム戦争時、テト（ベトナム地方の旧正月）の期間を 選んで行なわれたアメリカ軍の攻撃。 Yale＝イエール大学。
（1995年 中央大学 文学部）