Image:  Friends for Ever by Hamed Saber

What’s a friend?

Two days ago I got in touch with an old friend : my best friend during the last 4 years of High School. In reading his web site (www.barrerajose.com) I found many of the attributes that I loved about our friendship, and many of the weird things that made him unique.

What’s a friend?

We didn’t connect for over 10 years. Our emails (when we had each other’s address, which was in itself rare) were short two-liners without substance. Yet in his writing, his poetry, and his essays, I find parts of myself I had forgotten even existed.

What’s a friend?

Does it really matter? It’s just a label we invented to describe what other people mean to us. That label is just one more inventions in a world of ideas. What really matters is the feelings we have experienced when we connected with him; the difference that he has made, and continues to make, in my life; and the impact my actions have in his.

What’s a friend?

Someone you can count on to remind you of the good times you had together
Someone who lets you know when you make mistakes, and helps you become more self-aware and learn about yourself and the universe.
Someone who forgives you for all the times you have hurt him.
Someone who loves you, unconditionally.

Maybe not. Does it really matter?