Treasured Friendships

I have learned many lessons in the past year that have, I hope, begun to shape me into a better person. Among those lessons, one that stands tall is my beginning to understand the inestimable value of true, genuine, deep friendships. Since I moved to the Chicago area nearly 3 years ago, I have been blessed far beyond what I deserve by friends who have enriched my life and brought joy in happy times and comfort in sorrow.

We so often think of a boyfriend/partner relationship as the zenith of our connections with others, and sometimes our other friendships even suffer to make way for that romantic relationship. But, while recognizing the value and significance of a partner, I must also make this observation: When I moved to Chicago, I quickly made friends with several amazing people, first Boon, then James, Ryan, Brian, and others. Since then, I have had 3 boyfriends who have come and gone, but my friends are still here.



So, do I hope to find that special guy with whom I can share deep intimacy and romance? Of course. Perhaps I've even reached the point where I am stable enough to contribute to a relationship that will last for the long haul. But, as I enter into any future relationship, I hope I will realize that I am already a rich man before I ever find that boyfriend, because my life has treasure heaped upon it through my friends.

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him, his own." -Benjamin Disraeli

And yes, it's nice to have hot friends....

"A friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else."
- Len Wein





"A friend is one who believes in you when you have ceased to believe in yourself."





"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." -C. S. Lewis





"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being." - Goethe





"It's the friends you can call up at 4 am that matter." -Marlene Dietrick



"Life is partly what we make it, and partly what is made by the friends whom we choose." - Tehyi Hsieh



"I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don't believe I deserved my friends."
- Walt Whitman





"I count myselt in nothing else so happy
As in a soul rememb'ring my good friends." - William Shakespeare





"The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend. I have no wealth to bestow on him. If he knows that I am happy in loving him, he will want no other reward. Is not friendship divine in this?" - Henry David Thoreau





"Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy you must have somebody to divide it with." - Mark Twain



"Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say."