history? herstory?

I am writing tonight because I was recently contacted by an old friend. It was one of those situations when you don't know how to respond, if indeed you respond at all. In the end I thought, what the heck life is too short to ignore people who played a big part in your life. The hesitation was due to how we lost contact and us not always being the best influence for each other. I think I was afraid of being pulled down so I'm a bit cautious over the whole matter. Still we have been doing the whole nostalgic reminiscing thing which obviously being 9 yrs since we last talked included school. So many good memories we shared and so many wild times too, the big realisation was that life is so much based on making memories that we always wish we had back, then you forget how good life is in the present; meaning we don't fully enjoy the memories that we are making right now and before you know it you will be wishing for those times back thus sparking a circle reaction. Is this true of everyone? If not what is the point of the abundance of happy memories we collect, what a confusing thing life can be.