Thoughts About Friends

It was so nice to have a day off where I didn't need to meet with the decorator, but could just do my errands and then head home to do laundry. Aearwen and I had a nice long conversation in the afternoon, longer than an hour. Time always seems to fly by when we're talking and in almost two years of weekly conversations, we have never run out of things to talk about. That's the mark of a good friendship.

Best friends? Maybe not BEST, but a good friend is there for you and you,
in turn, are there for them. A friend can be a friend for life when each one
is treated respectfully. Happiness = friends! 

I have many people I consider friends, but thinking about Aearwen, I find that a lot of my friends are not living anywhere close to me. I have several in California, a few in Colorado, one is even in India, but locally, I have Chickie and Liz, and that's about it. I suppose because I'm married to my BFF and have never looked much farther than that.

Best friends don't require talk, there is just as much conversation
in the quiet times of just sharing a special moment. 

Some of my friends, such as Aearwen, I've never actually met face-to-face. These are internet friends who have reached out and grown to be far more to me than a post on a white screen. These are people whose daily lives I've been privileged to share, both the ups and the downs. Some are friends who I may never meet at all because they live in different countries, such as Iris and Hans. Yet I consider them friends too, even though I may not interact with them on a daily or even a weekly basis.

Friends - good or best - are those people who are there when you
experience the good times and the bad. They help you through
the bad, and their presence amplifies the good. 

So that brings me to my question for today. What constitutes the difference between a friend and an acquaintance to you? When does a person you've interacted with for months/years on-line cross that border from someone whose posts you enjoy reading, to someone with whom you exchange emails, cards and possible future visits? I've been lucky with my internet friends, I have had the opportunity to meet several of them face-to-face and each one is a talented, bright, and wonderfully fun person to spend time with. They are more than a mere acquaintance to me and I look forward to any and all future meetings and shared experiences.

Friends like to share their lives, whether it's on-line, through emails, or
in person with phone calls or visits. Photo by Usman M Bajwa.

Happy Thursday and the final day of April. Did you get everything you had planned for the month completed? You still have one day to reach those goals :-)