Distance

It's 1:15 am and I was SO ready to hop into bed 45 minutes ago, but I saw Jhoette online and I just had to talk to him for a little bit. It was hardly a conversation to measure up to any of our famous all-nighters, but when a good friend is thousands of miles across the ocean, getting a 5-10 minute exchange of words means a whole lot. I miss having friends like Jhoette and Carlo around.

Friendships are very, how shall I put this...complex, as I've witnessed over and over again. There are times in a person's livelihood when friends are merely the social actors in one's theater of life; the role players designated for extracurricular activities outside of family. But as the years progress, as the production gets older, one starts to realize the value of key thespians in the play who do no less than give your story substance. Sooner or later the social role players not only exist to provide company in the face of frolic, but to offer support and strength in the face of criticism.

When you have found ONE dependable actor in your own productions of life, you couldn't be more blessed. I've been lucky to find quite a few and am saddened to also have lost a few. Finding friends is easy. It's keeping them that's the hard part.