The friend who knows your history may also be the person most tempted to explain you too quickly.

The friend who knows your history is best placed to explain you and quickest to explain you wrong. They have the material and they also have a settled account of who you are, formed years ago, and that account can arrive faster than any fresh observation. Familiarity produces both the insight and the shortcut.

If someone keeps describing you as a version you have moved past, say so plainly rather than letting it stand. And check whether you do it to them, since it is very easy to keep relating to the person somebody was at twenty. Asking an old friend what they are like now is a stranger question than it should be, and usually a good one.