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Its not easy finding the words to talk about a friendship like ours. Which is strange, considering how close we have become. There have been so many times when we both needed a shoulder to cry on, or a snout to sigh on.. and so forth. It makes me wonder, how can we possibly express what friends are really worth? What makes a friendship, especially a friendship like ours, so special? Contrary to popular belief, it is actually possible to survive without your friends. Indeed, there are a few genuine advantages to being alone,and there are also some activities that, frankly, shouldn't involve anybody else. It's a scientific fact that time spent in quiet isolation thinking about our lives is vital to a healthy state of mind, as long as we don't do too much of it. At the end of the day, we are social creatures, who find that being with other people and bringing people together are very fulfilling experiences. There is a curious fact about friendship that we have always know but rarely acknowledge: By understanding others, we also come closer to understanding ourselves. What we look for and value in our friends are the very same qualities we are most proud of or wish were more evident in ourselves. So in no small way, our friends tell us a lot about who we are and who we aren't. We all have many different types of friends - from the person we simply smile at and high-five over the water cooler to our childhood pals. There is "the gang" we hang out with from time to time, and the buddies with whom we deconstruct the workweek over a relaxing aperitif or an episode of Sex and The City or both. There are also the luck individuals with whom we are especially close, and there are even imaginary friends. (But now were all starting to enter Jerry Springer territory... so we'll just move right along.) Genuine friend ships are founded on a share vision - the view that our lives are somehow better because particular people are part of them. Despite numerous differences, real friends see eye to eye on all the issues that matter. Our common values, passions, concerns, and mutual respect enhance our life experiences as a whole. Friends genuinely care about each other. We can always count on our pals to watch our back and look out for our best interests. This faith in our friends grows as each of us helps the other move forward in life. It's the same trust we count on when we share secrets, ask if our tie is on straight, or need our hair teased just so. A friend is thereto help keep your chin up, no matter what it takes. A friend knows when we need a hug or a tension-relieving back rub. Friends know when to offer serious counsel and thoughtful, heartfelt advice, and they know when to say, "Hey, why the long face? Snap out of it!" Most important friends know when to just sit and quietly beside us and say nothing at all. Obviously, the best thing about our friends is that we have fun together. Lots of fun. We go on adventures, scream out the lyrics at Bon Jovie concerts, and basically get into bizarre but enjoyable situations that probably don't make a lot of sense to anybody else. Of course, every relationship of note comes with a price. Some friends need so much support they become a burden. Even soul mates can't agree on absolutely everything all the time. This is just something we have to accept. In fact, there are occasions when our friends, knowing us as well as they do, seem as if they are deliberately trying to drive us crazy. Some friends develop an unhealthy admiration for our personal fashion sense or just have gross habits they simply cannot kick.  Even out closest friends can unhinge us by insisting on setting us up on blind dates who are as alarmingly inappropriate as they are enthusiastic or by opening their big mouths at inopportune moments, and suddenly everyone at the office knows you always wear "lucky" leopard-print underwear on a third date. Nevertheless, after a suitable period of time in self-imposed exile where we can scream until our tonsils shatter, we eventually shrug our shoulders, forgive them, and move on. Because thats just what friends do. By far the worst thing about friends is having them leave. Whether they move to another city or to another country, this is the saddest of good-byes, especially if we know we have seen them for the very last time. Thinking about losing friends, though it makes us feel incredibly sad, is actually very healthy if it reminds us how special our friends are and that they cannot be replaced. You could search the whole world looking for a friendship like ours, and you would only wear out a good pair of feet. Great friends cannot be manufactured in a laboratory by an evil genius. We cannot order a friend delivered to our door like a pizza or download one from the internet. However, there are potentially wonderful friends all over the place just waiting to be met. We could find them at the office, we could stumble across them in the park, we could meet them at a quiet soiree. Who knows? It is usually not possible to tell at friends sight whether we will get along with someone or not. There are no "ready-made perfect friends" per se. There are simply people to whom we can really pour out our hearts and those we can't. There are individuals who invigorate and inspire us and those who bore us to death. There are folks who really make us feel comfortable and others who frustrate, aggravate, and infuriate us to the point of madness. A real friendship is something we build - in many ways its a journey we take together. The key to starting on the right foot is not to try and impress anybody. No one can keep up the act forever, so you may as well just be yourself from day one - they can like it or lump it. Take your time getting to know each other. Whats the hurry? Ideally, we want friends with whom we'll grow closer and closer as we get older, so it makes sense to invest a little time and energy finding out who they really are. After a few conversations, you may find that despite all the indications, you really have nothing in common. You may also unearth an ugly side of their personalities that you weren't aware of. They may turn out to be chronic air-kissers, unbearable drama queens, or bullies who bite your head off whenever things don't go their way. They may become unreliable, forgetting to call, and then leaving you hanging after you have canceled all your other plans, which causes your self-esteem to plummet to unfathomable new depths. Then again, they may like you too much, smothering you with excessive affection and finding it impossible to accept that you have other important people in your life. Suddenly, things don't seem to be quite as much fun as they once were. Not all friendships turn out to be really rewarding, but if you end up in a sinker, it's because you've compromised what is really important to you. You cannot be there for anyone else if you are not first true yourself. We all want and deserve a friend with whom we truly connect in a meaningful way. Someone who acknowledges our fears and limitations without judgment and encourages us to reach further than we ever thought possible. A friend with whom we share things that are most precious to us - the belly laughs and the sorrows. A friend who will see our hidden qualities and like us for exactly who we are without reservation, thus helping us fulfill our extraordinary potential. True friends make us smile as soon as we see them waving across a room. They lighten our hearts without even trying, so that time spent together feels like a little slice of Christmas. With a real friend, we know exactly what they are thinking without having to say a word. This connection is completely unique. At times its as if we are the only to people on this earth. Friend ship is a special type of partnership based on the profound understanding that together the impossible becomes deliciously possible. It is an unspoken yet blinding commitment to help each other live our lives to the fullest. I know how lucky I am to a friend like that, and I just want to say that no matter what happens, you will never be alone because you will always be my friend. Always.

I did not write this, its a book, by Bradley Trevor Greive. I retyped it.