Shared memories cannot indefinitely substitute for present connection.

History can carry a friendship for a while. Eventually there is a limit, because talking about what you did in a previous decade is not the same as knowing each other now. Some relationships stay alive on nostalgia long after the actual acquaintance has ended, and both people can feel the thinness without saying so. Present contact is what makes shared memory mean something.

With an old friend, try asking about this month rather than reminiscing. What they are worried about now, what changed this year. One current conversation does more than several rounds of remembering.