The Friends list is still there, as are all the Friend groups you previously created. You just need to dig a little deeper. I just helped my wife find them.
Given what I indicated earlier, that I believe that this change was necessary to support platform changes that are absolutely essential, you can rest assured that Facebook will not "change it back". They will, of course, change it "forward", reflecting perhaps some realization that they need to make something easier, which this change has made harder.