Best Friends...

I am very lucky. I am glad to say that I don't have that many friends. I am glad of this because the friends I do have are the beat kinds of friends and you know who you are. I have mentioned in the past that I am not the strongest person in the world, nor am I the most intelligent. I am not the funniest or the most popular but what I am is friendly. And that is very important to me.

Everyone has friends that they lose, its a sad but very true fact. I think back to the friends I had when I was in my teens and at school and college. They all meant something to me and they all helped shape me into the person that I am today. Some more than others but never the less, memories stay with you and when I look back I smile. Often times I forget the earliest friendships I had in high school because the latter part was such a huge part of my life (even though it was only two years). I had a friend that I went on holiday to Lanzerote with, for some reason or another our friendship didn't last past year eight. I had a friend who protected me once from a fight that I would certainly have been beaten up in and years later I end up working with his brother.

Then I met a girl who was to help me discover who I am. I will never lie about the fact that I was completely in love with her, I never lied to her about it even then. She had a huge personality that a lot of people didn't get, but we were as close as two friends could be. We had the kind of friendship where we didn't actually need to do anything to have a good time, sitting in her room listening to music was cool. I was somewhat of a loner before year nine when we started hanging out, I had friends as I said but I still didn't really talk to that many people. All of a sudden I could never understand why I didnt and almost overnight I new everyone. It was thanks to her that I started becoming social and having a good circle of friends. Although circumstances as they were, we lost touch after school and I sort of lost that flare.

Whilst in college I hung out with a guy who lived just over the road from our house. He was a bit younger than me so I kind of felt like a big brother, not that he needed one, he was fearless. I was introduced through him to a new circle who must have come to my house every day for about two years. Then as college continued and I got a girlfriend, there was kind of a stop gap in friends.

It was an odd time, we saw each other every single day for almost three years and because of that I lost touch with a lot of my friends, not because we fell out or that I wasn't allowed to see them or anything, my life just took a different turn. It wasn't until I started working at the job I had before my current one that I started becoming socially active if you like. Where I worked there was a pub just round the corner and a group of us would go for a drink at lunch and just generally have a laugh. After I was fired from that job, yes I got fired, after a short lull I got the job I am in now. It took me about two months to find my groove and come out of my shell. I became myself again, not that I hadn't been all along but I thrive on people, I am not really an attention seeker but I like being the centre of attention. I started going out a hell of a lot more and drinking with my new found group of friends.

Without realising it we had become a miniature family, we saw each other almost every day and we all became quite close. While I was becoming closer to my friends I was actually, unconsciously, distancing myself from my girlfriend at the time. Obviously this caused arguments between us, I wasn't really being fair and I moaned when she wanted to come out with us saying that they were my friends. Either way we broke up and I moved back home for a while, I still went out and got drunk with my friends and I was having a great time at work. It was a fairly full couple of months but I won't go into detail.

I am going to fast forward a little to continue this as I have gone in to a little bit more detail than I initially thought I would. I have been meaning to talk about my best friends throughout this but it seemed pertinent to provide you with some back story but anyway, I have four best friends. As always I will not name names but they will all know who they are.

The first is a man who is knowledgeable, generous, and when he is being serious almost always talks sense. He is the perfect example of a confidant, never wanting to tell you what you don’t want to hear but sitting down with a pin the is always ready to give advice and be honest. His opinion is of the highest regard to me and what he thinks means something. He is one of best people I have in my life and although I don’t see him nearly as much as I used to, I know we will be friends for a very long time. I would like to tell you that I love you.

The second is a girl who is like the big sister I never had. She is smart and funny, honest and always willing to lend an ear. She has been a pillar of support not just for me but for someone else very important to me and I will always be grateful to her. I love that no matter how bummed out she may be for whatever reason, I somehow have the ability to make her smile and that is always a smile worth seeing. I have so much respect for her that I cannot even begin to express it. I would like to tell you my sweet that I love you.

The third is another girl. I do not see this one as much as I’d like, she is a very busy person and always up to something. She is one of the funniest people I know and usually because I’m laughing at her more than anything else, in a good way of course though. The best thing about her is that she is unfailingly loyal and without any insult to anyone else who may read this I feel as though I could tell her almost anything. She is one of the people I struggle through the day without talking to. I would like to tell you chicken pie that I love you.

The last and probably one of the most important people in my life. As you read this I hope you know that without you I would not have coped the last six months or so. I cannot express how much I appreciate what you have done for me. I know I have said this to you in the past and I daresay I will tell you again, but I do not think of you as my friend any more. You are my brother. You are continuously helping me grow into a man by always knowing exactly what to say in almost any situation. You have put up with me whining and pulled me out of a slump. You are without a shadow of a doubt the best friend that anyone could ask for and I look forward to one day having you stand next to me at an alter as my best man and being godfather to my future kids. I would like to tell you that I love you, brother.

There are more people that I consider close friends and I don’t want to take anything away from any of you because you all mean the world to me. I have been wanting to write about my friends for some time but I always put it off because I knew I wouldn’t get it right; I will never be able to put down into words but who can? What I would like to say is that everyone has a best friend or maybe a couple or maybe more, but I would ask that even if you just do it this once, tell them how much they mean to you. If they have done something for you that nobody else has ever done or saved you from some sort of crisis or sat and listened to you snivelling, just tell them how important that is.