Friends; what the world be without them?   The people we choose to ‘hang out’ with.  Friends are the backbone of our lives.  People who share similar experiences and values, we seem to go through our lives following a parallel path with them.  We make friends in school, at camp, at work or meet them at church or in a club. We get married around the same time, have our children together and get divorced together.  We get to choose our friends, unlike our family members who we inherit.  They are the people we share our most intimate thoughts with and party with.  What would our lives be without them?  How is it then that our circle of friends continually changes?  Could it be that today’s best friend is tomorrow’s forgotten one?  The person who is here today just might not be there tomorrow.  I remember in school how each new year brought a new ‘best’ friend.  Sharon, Lisa, Cindy, Debra and Liz were just some of the girls who throughout my school years would become my best friend.  We would eat lunch together, do homework together and spend time after school playing.  Yet as another school year began, my best friend changed, and so it is as adults.  We believe our best friends will be there forever.  We make them bridesmaids and godmothers and expect them to always be a part of our lives.  Yet life happens and our once sacred relationship is no more.  They simply vanish from our lives as their lives take a different path than our own.  Were these people were really ever your friend, or just a convenient one?  When life was simple, it was easy to stay in touch and connected however, add a touch of stress or drama and these people disappear.  Were they really your friend then? The answer is yes.   A friend is a person attached to another by feelings of affection or personal regard.  Those people who we classified as best friends were attached to us at that particular time.  The feelings of benevolence we felt towards them was the basis of the friendship.  We shared a special time in our lives with them and it is through these friendships that we arrive at where we are today.  I have learned lots from my friends and have valued each and every one of them.  Even those people who no longer will give me the time of day once my ex-husband divorced me.  It is because of these people and all of the people in my life that I really can appreciate those true friends who no matter how tumultuous or stressful the circumstances in my life could ever be are still around.  I have reconnected with many old friends via Facebook and the internet. These seemingly simple interactions with people I haven’t seen in ages via postings and emails bring me back to the time when these people were a daily part of my life.  It is good and something that I find very familiar and comforting.  I love my friends both new and old.  It is nice to know that even if you don’t get to see each other everyday, speak on the phone every week or even visit every year, the bond you have with your friends is timeless and endless and so are all my friends.  Thank you to my friends!