Here's to you 'ole friend...

What is a friend? There are all kinds of the positive words of wisdom that describe a friend on the Internet. Facebook is famous for labelling everyone you know as friends.

People call themselves friends, when in fact, they are merely acquaintances. If a person has more than a couple of true friends in the world, they are very lucky. Sometimes a spouse is the true friend. Sometimes a family member is the best friend. Sometimes a dad, sometimes a mom. We find our friend who best mirrors us. They do as we do. They think as we think.

As children, our best friends are the kids that are interested in the same activities as we are. So whether it's sports, chess, video games, partying, painting or any other like minded activity, we find these special people there. Honesty, care, respect, trust are all qualities we bestow on these "friends", whether they deserve it or not. It is with this power, we find if these people are in fact our true buddies.

Friends have come and gone in my lifetime. Distance, changing in interests, self destructing behaviours, and girls have all torn chums away from me. Were they really friends? Probably not. We had a lot of good times together though. When I'm feeling nostalgic, it's these times that I wish I could relive with them again.

Once I had a good buddy whom I would've done anything for. I could sense something changing in his attitude. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I could feel it. His sarcasm was one of the qualities I liked about him, but then his sarcastic responses started to penetrate like daggers piercing my skin. One day, I asked him to go out for a beer. He said he was busy. That was 7 years ago. I haven't seen him since. At first, I was really busy with work. I was able to move my focus away from personal issues into my company. To this day, I don't know what I did to him.

Now that I sold my business, I look back and wonder what the hell happened. Does ego stop me from calling him today? Probably a bit. The fact that something was wrong before the friendship ended is evident. I don't think I'd want to be his friend today, so why would I call him. We drifted apart just like many of the other friends I've had since childhood. Different interests coupled with lack of time and add in a bit of distance. Is that one of the recipes for failed friendship?

Don't think so... I have a friend in Halifax. I haven't seen him nor talked to him in 8 years. He was the best man at my wedding. We grew up together, played basketball together and shared an apartment at university. I love him like a brother.  If he needs me for anything, I will be at his house tomorrow morning, no questions asked.

I wonder if I have anyone who feels the same way about me...