Being a friend..

Many times and in the various seasons of my life, I find myself wondering who friends are and what a friend ought to be...

I don't have many friends but I do know many people and they know who I am. They have shared much of my present, or past and many have touched my life in a special way and I treasure their presence in my life.

But who is a friend really?

Dictionary.com says that a friend is...
1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
2. A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.
3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement: friends of the clean air movement.
5. Friend A member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.

By this definition, I suppose I do have many friends..

To pursue this further, would I then have different categories of friends? I suppose there should be good, very good, extremely close, new, old, etc. friends and then there will be acquaintances, people I know, people who know me or know of me?

I would define a friend as something MORE than what is defined in the dictionary...

I see a friend as someone who...
- knows me as well as i know him/her or at least attempts to..
- does not have any other motive of spending time with me aside from simply enjoying my company.
- listens to me rant and rave without judging me.
- loves me for who I am and not wish I was someone else/better.
- scolds me when they see me do something stupid/wrong.
- shares their lives with me, good and bad without fearing that I would judge them.
- doesn't mind if I don't call or see them for extended periods and won't feel slighted. we ought to be able to pick up exactly where we left off the last time we spoke...
- can hold an intelligent conversation with me as well as ROTFL with/at me!
- trusts me with their heart and doesn't worry about their "place" in my life... ie, he/she doesn't need or care to compete for my affections.
- keeps all that we speak in complete confidence.

These are some of the things i see that a friend ought to be. I wonder if what i have set out is too tall an order for any one person to expect or aspire to be? I think not cos then we'd know who our friends REALLY are... It separates the men from the boys, so to speak! I don't think any one of us should have/expect anything less..

Looking back at my definition, it gives me great comfort to see that I have more friends than I thought I did.

I have been blest by the times I shared with them and how they enriched and influenced my life. I look forward to spending more time with them and being with them. Just need to appreciate them more, I guess!