finding meaning in quotes

i used to love quotes. i have several on my facebook profile. i'm not as avid of a collector nowadays as i was before, but i still enjoy reading them and thinking...

don't make fun of me for this but i still sometimes browse this wedding website and i found this post on quotes.

this quote got me thinking:
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other’s worth." Robert Southey (1774-1843)

i disagree with this. i have definitely found that it's true with some friends... you can go for months, maybe even years, without talking/seeing them, and you can just start back up from where you left off. but with some friends, time and distance grow between you and they become strangers. now this is where it gets confusing. because they're not strangers. they're this special person who holds a very big place in your heart, but they're just not there anymore. how can they remain in the past, if you think about them in the present?