All-time Friendship

I have wanted to write a friendship post for a long time but haven't been sure how to word what I feel. I was just writing a thank you note to a friend of mine and on the front it says "A Friend Loves at All Times". That is my exact take on friendship. If I have ever loved you, you are my friend. Whether we see each other or not, whether our friendship was good for us or not, whether there was a falling out or not, whether we live close or are far apart, my love still stands and you are my friend. Whether or not you are a friend to me does not matter; I have loved you, and you are my friend.

Dear friends

I have finally learned that the main ingredient in friendship is love. Love is a gift. It is free with no strings attached. Trust has strings attached and it is earned, but love is a freebie. The heart loves, even if the brain wants otherwise. So if you are my friend I will NOT say..."well, I will only love you if you agree with me, or never hurt my feelings, or as long as you never have a bad day. I will only love you as long as you are there whenever I am hurting, or need a shoulder to cry on, even if there are things going on in your life that are beyond your control. I will only love you if you act like I think you need to." I will never say that, and I hope you won't put those expectations on me, either.

There have been times when I know I have not been a good friend. I have made mistakes, I have been reactionary and had poor judgment. Heck-there are times I have been just plain thoughtless and reckless, never taking into account the people I might be hurting. I am hoping that my friendship skills have improved considerably as I have gotten older.  Some of the decisions I have made on how to treat people  were absolute train wrecks. Sometimes I have not known how to "play the game". I have made observations from the outside of situations without knowing the rest of the story. I am truly sorry. I am trying to do better. Maintaining friendship is a lifelong process. We grow up and mature, and understand there is more to every situation than we thought. We value each other more, and begin to weed out the influences we need in our lives. Weeding out doesn't mean the love stops, it just means the friendship has turned a different direction. There are people we love that are just not good for us. It's okay, you can still love from a distance.

New friends

So my promise to you, my friends, is that I do love you. That will never change. I promise to be there when I can~ and when I can't, I will pray for you and carry you in my heart. I will understand that there are times you will not be there for me. I promise to want the best for you, even if I do not agree with what you are doing. I promise to love you for who you are as well as who you are becoming. I promise to be myself and I want you to be yourself. I promise not to judge you by the things in your past, the things that you own, or the mistakes you have made, but to love what you have in your heart. I promise that when we are apart I think of you and want the best for you, and if we have moved on to different phases of our lives, I will hope for your happiness. You are my friend, and I love you.

Friends that have become family