Friends.

Its often said that you can choose your friends but not your family. Good friends are often a lot closer than family just because they are apart from the sibling rivalry and internal jealousies that seem to mark out most family relationships. I suppose some of our closest friendships come about in childhood and adolesence but many do not survive the personal changes that we go through in those parts of our lives, I dont think that I have any close friends from that period. Then there are friends that you make through college or work and some of those can last a lifetime. Also, sometimes people who have been in a romantic relationship retain each other as friends long after the flames of love have died and there are those whose friendship stops just this side of an entanglement, so near but so far away.

Some people find it easier to have friends of the opposite sex then those of their own, My closest friendships have always been with women whether or not they have ever led on to relationships of a more intimate kind. I know that there are women who find the same degree of affinity with men, I suppose that we just enjoy the diffeent perspective that the other sex can give to life's ups and downs. The lucky people are those who can find a partner who is also their best friend. Its not always easy to find someone who is on the same wavelength in both departments, but sometimes it happens.

I would rather have one good friend in whom I can trust than a whole load of casual aquintences. Those who have pubs as the centre of their social life know that it is easy to mistake those with whom we become friendly after a couple of pints with friends for life. People who make that mistake often get a rude awakening when it turns out that a secret you have told to someone over a few beers becomes the talk of the Bar room. Friendships and alcohol do not always mix.

So lets hear it for our true friends. Those we can ring up in the night when yhings get bad, or those who will drop everything to come and celebrate with us when we have good fortune. Let us always be grateful for those who know our innermost secrets and our weaknesses and dont judge us badly for any of it. and lets always make sure that our friends always know how much we value them and what they bring to our lives.