Nostalgia can be fun!
So, just recently I was going through some old e-mail from an online sevice (or, er, here's the wayback machine link, since the original seems to have stopped responding) I was an active member of many, many years ago.
As I was reading through my old e-mail, some of which, as the true packrat and information sludge collector that I am, I will probably eventually be displaying on this site. In the process, I came across the first couple of messages which, were the preamble to a "normal" pen-and-paper penpal exchange. Yes, it did work backwards - I met someone online, and corresponded with them via snail-mail. Whatever. This was all very long ago.
Anyway, when I was reading through the e-mail, I got the great idea that I should see if I could get back in contact with my penpal, as it had been quite a few years since we'd been in touch. Fortunately for me, she has a relatively uncommon first name, and so I was actually able to find her fairly quickly.
The coolest thing, I think, was that, when I wrote her, she said she'd tried to look me up about a year ago!
Moral of the story? I dunno. I guess that you shouldn't forget about friends, no matter how long-lost they are. True, not everyone remembers friendships in the same way, nor are all of your old friends going to necessarily be interested in resuming the lines of communication. But if, just possibly, they are willing.... it'd be a true shame not to have looked them up. The world's too small a place, and our lives are too short, to overlook what great happiness comes of having friends.