Friends...plain and simple

I have decided to take the day off from just putting my silly thoughts to electronic paper, and focus on something a bit more serious. Namely, friends came to mind. Because friends are people with whom you virtually cannot live entirely without, I thought it only fair that I pay respect to them in some manner to make them feel wanted. So here we go...

At the time I am writing this post, I have acquired one-hundred and four Facebook "friends." Darn it to all hell if I can't get just one more person to accept a friend request to make that a round one-hundred and five. They really don't know how important that is to me. Anyway, that's not the kind of friend I'm talking about here, although that is included in a subset of the subject.

I'm talking now about the kind of friend you would have in the traditional sense of the word. The kind of friend that you have "picked up" along the winding journey of life, from building friendships out of business encounters, to developing relationships from seeing a person on a regular basis no matter what the reason. These are the types of friends that you and I should really cherish. Unfortunately, we often don't give enough credit to those who mean the most to us. Maybe we don't quite grasp the extent to which these people are important in our lives.

As much as I enjoy my alone time, a hermit like me occasionally likes to be around other people. Sure, I have my cats (well, normally I have my cats...except for the present time in which I also have been denied even that pleasure), but there are times when I seem to need something more than that and a computer screen. You may be the type like I thought I was...perfectly happy with my own little world where I had or could get almost anything I needed all by my lonesome. Just not true, though I didn't realize it. It probably began sometime around 2009, when I decided to break my vow never to get sucked into the bandwagon world of Facebook. I was probably drunk or on too many pain killers (one or the other, not both...tried that one time and one time only...never again!) or something of that nature. Anyway, I signed up for FB and started "friend requesting" my family. An easy, SAFE way to start when you don't think you have very many resources in that area of your life.

As I soon came to realize, I still had more friends than I thought. People were coming out of hiding (or so I thought...truth is, they had been there all along, and it was ME who had been doing the hiding). Friends, some long forgotten family, and even mere acquaintances from way long ago were signing up to get back in touch! Sure, there were those who got the excitement out of the way pretty quick, and I haven't really kept in touch even after that flash-in-the-pan encounter, but there are a few with whom I still have a functional and no less than regular relationship to this day. These, however, still boil down a little further.

Skip ahead to November of 2011. I found myself in a situation concerning my health. I had to be rushed to the hospital for a massive infection in my legs. Long story short (no pun intended...but funny anyway), I had to relinquish those particular legs in order to save the rest of me from death. Not a very pleasant outlook either way. That's where the story gets to the point of this post.

I casually put up a notice about my status on my Facebook wall, simply to tell people that I probably wouldn't be available for quite some time. The responses I got where surprising to me. I had friends offering to come and visit me (regardless that I was somewhat out of the way), bring me pizza, and loan me stuff to keep me busy in my time of upset! Some of these people I had not seen or contacted in many years! These are the people with whom you and I must not let go. In my case, again.

Friends are important. It's that simple. I could very easily go on and on about the virtues of good friends. The world knows the reasons and validations for that simple statement live on in many a Hallmark made-for-TV movie and refrigerator magnets (e.g. "Walk beside me and be my friend"). Friends are sometimes not appreciated for all they are worth until they're not there. Even then they are soon forgotten. Then when they reappear...that's when they really become something you can't live without.

Comfort. Companionship. Compassion. Empathy. Love. Life...Friends. Treasure them as I do, and your efforts will be rewarded. Thank you to all my friends and family (they are friends as well) for being so good at providing all the necessities of a happy life, no matter what circumstances are working to the contrary.