Cuz you got to have friends

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. -Mark Twain

Good company and good discourse are the very sinews of virtue. -Izaak Walton

Tell me what company you keep and I'll tell you what you are. -Miguel de Cervantes

You are judged by the company you keep. -Old Saw

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. -Oscar Wilde


As I get older I don't have time to be friends with people simply because of how they dress or what kind of music they listen to, or what they can do for me. Oh, don't get me wrong - the career I have chosen means that I spend a lot of time pretending people I care nothing about are interesting for the simple reason that they have or may in the future give me money to do what I do. And I accept this process as the way that the world works. However, simply put, those people are not my friends.

I think the number one priority for me is the ability to laugh. All my friends make me laugh. Sometimes they even mean to. There are few things as valuable to me as a good belly laugh.. you know, the kind that makes you throw your head back and do not care how loud you're being. I love that. If I could bottle it, I would stop drinking forever. I love to laugh so hard I can't catch my breath and tears come to my eyes. There has been a period in the not-too-distant past that those kinds of laughs were absent, and I find that so sad. Happily, they've come back on a somewhat regular basis, and mean to ensure that they don't disappear again.

It has occurred to me today that I am truly lucky and blessed by the friends that I have. They are wonderful people and love me for me, not just what I might be able to do for them.
Maybe it's a sign of my own personal (slow) maturation, but even the flaws in people I love have become virtues. Everyone has their own special gifts that often are not tattooed on their forehead but make them special after you discover it.

This one: some might say she's nosy and makes mountains out of molehills, but she can read my mood and understand me from an expression on my face.

That one: some might say that he's a big baby, but that sensitivity is so welcome when my world is falling apart and he knows what to say or do to console me.

Him: has an infuriating way of not talking, but OMG is he the best listener in the world. Plus he always laughs at *my* jokes. Some say he's smug but I think he's spectacularly intelligent.

Next friend: some call her bitchy and confrontational but I see her as fearless and principled and she would fight to the death for me and those she loves.

This fella: yes, he dresses like a dork and he's a good hunnerd pounds overweight but he has the most charming sense of humor and always helps me see the other side of the equation.

She: never takes anything seriously but she helps me see the lighter side when I'm in my moods and she doesn't realize it but she's teaching me how to handle things more rationally.

The other guy: some say he's bordering on scheming but I don't necessarily think telling people things that make them feel good is a bad thing.

This girl: is guilty of long silences but also teaches me to stop and think first.

Yes, I have (one or two) more friends than that, but I think I've made my point. Though a little rain must fall into each and every life, we do have special people to grab our hand and see us through the storm. I love my friends dearly and I am glad that each and every one of them is in my life.