June
17
Making friends is not easy for everyone and lets be honest, sometimes people aren’t the kindest to make friends with.
Early in my life, I loved having so many friends around all the time. Everyone was my friend (even though they were really just an acquaintances) and I was so excited to have a cell phone FULL of numbers and my AIM screen full of names.
After awhile I learned that all those names just filled up my phone and made it hard for me to find the numbers I was really looking for, like the Chinese take out place. 
That is when I learned the difference between true friends and people you just know.
True friends are there for you through the thick and thin. To celebrate your successes and help you move on from the failures. They do not hold it againist you when you get a bad haircut even though, in a couple years, it will be a moment they will never let you forget.
When you are down, they are there to help you back up. They make you feel good about yourself and you in return do the same for them. It is not about who bought lunch last because you know there will be a lifetime of lunches still left to be had.
So how many good friends will you have in a lifetime? I do not know. I promise you though, you will probably be able to count them on one hand. Don’t worry, if they are true friends, that is all you will need.
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GaryJ
on 17 Jun 2008 at 9:09 am #
There are acquaintances and then there are friends.
I have a lot of acquaintances, but a few select friends.
Quality not quanity.
An acquaintance is someone you deal with or work with, but not that close.
Friends are people who care about you, worry about you and are there when you need them and your there when they need you.
Philip
on 21 Jun 2008 at 3:11 pm #
I can’t agree with you more. True friends are few and far between, but when you have one, you know who they are. I lost my only true friend, of 25 years, 6 years ago. I miss him more that one can imagine.
Chris
on 24 Jun 2008 at 12:29 am #
I haven’t been keeping up lately with the blogging or reading my regular blogs (yours included), but now that I have a free moment I decided to read yours.
Let me tell you about my true friends, Rachel and Frances. These 2 girls are absolutely amazing in my life and I truly believe they were put in my life to show me what “BEST” friends are supposed to be.
I was at a low point in my life, dealing with coming out and getting used to it, dabbling with drugs (well, more than dabbling, I was almost dependent), drinking heavily, partying way too much, and losing my identity when by chance, I went to a birthday party for a friend of mine and met this amazing girl - Rachel. My tree-hugging, butterfly loving, amazingly talented artist, hippie of a friend. We started talking feverishly about our likes and dislikes, common traits and differences and just about everything you can imagine. By the end of the night I felt like I had met my equal on Earth. I was stunned. Shortly thereafter, Rachel and I began a whirlwind friendship (and I’m no longer friends with the person whose party I was at where I met Rach). We began e-mailing, conversing on the phone, hanging out and really getting to know one another, lacking all the pretentiousness that comes with trying to impress new people into liking you. Rachel saw past all that. She saw the inner me. She was tuned into my brain and soul somehow and could tell by the raise of an eyebrown, or a simple change in the way I held my lips, what I was thinking or how I was feeling.
Soon, Rachel invited me to a little dinner gathering of some random people I’d never met. I was excited to go, but little did I know that at that table, surrounded by margaritas, laughter, and cameras, would I meet a second portion of me - Frances. Frances, dear Frances. She’s prissy in the truest sense of the word. Wearing designer clothes, gaudy jewelry, and dropping the “r’s” from just about every word in her vocabulary. She’s truly a Southern belle. We didn’t realize it that night, but we were connected. A couple of weeks later, Rachel was having an art show (her 1st and super successful), in another town and it was decided that Frances and I would ride together (along with her husband). During this hour and a half drive to the show, Frances and I chatted NON-STOP about everything, while her husband just listened. This is when it happened. All of a sudden, Rachel, Frances and I were bonded. I realized in that car ride that Rachel was one side of me and Frances was the other.
Picture a line along a continuum with Rachel at one end and Frances at the other… I’m in the middle. These girls are completely opposite, but have so much in common and I fit perfectly between the two, almost as if grounding them to one another. It’s truly amazing to see us together. We could be in a room of 1,000 people and it’s as if no one else is around and we’re completely isolated from human existence.
Recently, I’ve started back to school full-time despite the verbal angst of my parents and siblings. Rachel and Frances supported me 100% in this decision and have encouraged me throughout the entire process. They never faultered for even 1 minute. They were there when no one else was. These are true friends and I’m truly blessed to have them in my life.
I could go on and on, but just realized that I’ve written ENTIRELY too much. But I wanted and need to share.
Have a good one!
~Chris
Michael
on 24 Jun 2008 at 3:39 am #
Chris
Miss you are the blog. Thank you for sharing a great story. Your friends should be so proud of you for your kind words about them. They sounds wonderful.