“Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.” -anonymous

Being with someone who really loves you changes how you see the world. It is a direct line to positivity. Real friends mirror our light, even in our deepest sadness. They know what we mean even when we don’t. They might give advice, if they have any, but more often they just give their hand, until they steady our heart. There is no place with surer footing than a walk beside a friend. It is the one time when everyone is totally present. Where could you go that is better than being in the presence of someone who truly loves you, just as you are.

This is a small village of true friends. We are blessed with a few in a lifetime if we are lucky and wide awake enough to seize the opportunities when they arise. What a treasure when a real friend lives close enough to you to take a walk. In their company I share my deepest laughter. I don’t know if I am funnier with them than with other people or if they just get how funny I am. Being with my real friends makes me valuable. I know what I am worth because when I am with them, I find what is best in me, or maybe they do.

Thoreau once said “The language of friendship is not words but meanings.” This is why all the trite things you have ever heard about real friendship are true. That silence shared is some of the best conversation available and that real friends are the ones that stay by us when there is nothing left to say. Being with a real friend is better than being with anyone else. Being your own friend is a close second, something I am working toward.