A Mark of Friendship

When I was in high school, those best friend charms were the big thing.  I had 2 best friends, so I had 2 of these charms.  One was given to me by my best friend, D., and the other was a 3 piece charm that was split between us and my other best friend, M.  We wore them proudly.  They were a symbol of the friendship that we shared, and proof that we had someone to lean on.

Today, we don't need a little charm to wear to show that we have friends.  Today, we realize that the value of friendship is more than a little piece of gold on a chain.  I am still friends with these two amazing women.  We don't see each other or even talk as much as we'd like, but we still know that the others have our back no matter what.  That is what a true friendship is all about...knowing that you don't have to talk to the other person every day, but you can call or meet up, not having seen each other in days, weeks, or even months, and just pick up where you left off.

I have some pretty amazing friends who I see and talk to on a daily basis, and I consider them my closest friends.  But, even if we don't hear from each other for a day or two, we know that we're there for each other.  We've got each other's backs, through thick & thin, as we've demonstrated time & time again.  We don't need a little charm to tell us who our true friends are.  In fact, if you really believe that these people are your true friends, you shouldn't need any kind of validation except the fact that you know that they are there for you, always in your corner, and on your side.

Today, D. and I don't talk very often.  We grew up, chose different careers, got married, had a kid (each), and we live different lives.  I still love her to pieces, and I know that she's got my back, and she knows that I've got her's.  We both know that the other is just a phone call away...and we've used that phone call many many times.  M. and I talk a little more often, thanks to Facebook.  What would we do without Facebook? We've attended each other's kids' parties, and gone to demos at each other's houses, and once in a while, gone out for a girls' night.  I love them both dearly and just because life happened and got in the way, where we don't see each other every single day in English class, or at the lunch table, that doesn't mean that we're no longer friends.  It just means that our friendship has grown more solid because we don't have to see or talk to each other every day.

Recently, I have been in some situations where my trust seems to have been misplaced.  I'm not going to go into details on anything, but some people that I thought to be close friends said and did some things that are truly hurtful and honestly, downright hateful.  They've shown their true colors and those colors do not look good on them.

I've had to make some pretty tough choices lately, and I've chosen to stick with those around me that build me up, not break me down.  I've chosen the people who I can trust, and who can trust me unconditionally.  These people are the ones that don't need constant validation that I am their friend.  They don't need that proverbial charm on a chain...and that's good because we're broke, and those charms are just not in the budget right now.