'Cause you gotta have FRIENDS!

I haven't had a best friend in over a year. My best friend and I found that we no longer saw eye to eye and when I decided that I was going to live my life my way and not her way we ultimately parted ways. I have a lot of friends and acquaintances but very few real friends. That is not a bad thing by any means, however, which surprises me a little. I am finding that the older you get, the less friends you need. I am content with the 3 or 4 real friends that I have. When I say "real friends" I am referring to the people that I can be millions of miles away from and not see for months at a time but we still maintain that bond-- that knowledge that if and when one of us needs something, the other will be there.

Over the years I have seen friends come and go for many reasons. Last year I was totally stepped on when I let a friend borrow almost $800 from me (school loan money...I don't have it like that) because she said she was just waiting for her refund check and would put the money back in my account as soon as her plane landed from the Dominican Republic (note: I have never been on spring break). Needless to say that never happened. She went as far to blame her mother, saying that she gave the money to her mom to deposit and that her mother used it for something else. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and we set up a payment plan. Weeks went by and I got no payments and she responded with "I've been putting the money in your account, you haven't gotten it?" I don't think I have ever been more disappointed in someone than at that moment. I let it go though. Everyone keeps telling me to sue her but I value friendship more than money and getting the money back won't get our friendship back. It wasn't just the money, it was the lack of respect for me. I am sure we all know about that.

In any event...I have 4 close friends that I trust with my feelings and inner workings. I just thought I would give a little tribute to those friends who have stood by me through the years and never failed to remember what it really meant to be a friend. I only hope that I have meant as much to them as they have meant to me...they're pictured below and I'll be sending them links to this post...Danish, AfroChic, Little Italy, and my Butter Pecan Rican...true friends!