I can only speak for women of a certain age, but it seems harder to make close friends later in life. Friends made later in life never seem to gain the same intimacy. You socialize rather than confide. Maybe certain slots are already filled and life is too busy to start over. Maybe it’s the fatigue of listening to yourself complain for so many years that you are hesitant to expose newer friends to the same tired pity party. New friends get the highlights. Whole swaths of past milestones are never mentioned as if you could ignore their impact on your current life. It feels a little dishonest. Sins of omission, perhaps. But to these women, you are a different person, one more confident, more in charge of her life. These women have never seen you cry.
It is exactly why I adore them.