A subject as vast and as wide as the sea is this. To touch upon only the surface:
A real friend WON'T covet your spouse, your home, your child, your clothes, your life.
They won't leave you when the rest of the world leaves you.
They won't keep track of who has called who or which one of you treated at the last meal.
They won't encourage you to buy things that you don't need, or date people that you shouldn't date,
or see the flaws in other people just because they happen to be insecure.

A real friend WILL wake up in the middle of the night if you need to talk, love your child like it was their own,
take your side in every matter and yet tell you if you are wrong, and make it a point to let you know that you are special.
They will make your gifts by hand, and laugh at you when you take yourself too seriously.
They will call you by nicknames that only they would dare call you, and show up at your house unannounced.
They will cry when you cry and always keep you in their prayers.
A real friend will know your middle name and will travel night and day to reach you if you move away- just because you need them, and they need you.
It will be a symbiotic relationship with mutual benefits, interests, devotions and comforts while affording you the freedom to be exactly who you are, appreciated and loved in a world full of strangers.

Learn more about this author, Tatyana Carney.
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