Friends and Acquaintences

I think it is interesting how easily we toss around the word "friends" and hardly ever use the word "acquaintance." If I were to be honest and use these terms appropriately, I would have to say that I have a lot of acquaintances and very few friends. We tend to grace almost anyone that we have met and spent some time with as being our friend. That's why we can have several hundred social media friends. But really a friend is someone other than your family member or lover that you share a close affection with. You share kindness, sympathy, empathy, compassion, common interests, common beliefs, loyalty, and fun with them. There is a special bond that can last for many years and remains intact even if you are separated by time and space. Odds are that there are only a handful of people in life that are really deserving to really be called a friend. The rest should be considered acquaintances. The problem is that in thinking about friendship we have had a tendency to mix up the two. This becomes painfully obvious when the nature of a real friendship is altered and that person is no longer going to be in your life the way they had been. I learned yesterday that one of my true friends is going to be moving. I am happy for her as she will soon be closer to her family. But I am sad because the quality of our relationship will become radically different. It won't be as easy to share time, tears, and laughter together. I have been thinking about all the times over the years that we have done just that. We have packed a lot of really diverse experiences together into the time we have known each other. Some of them I know have made me a better person, too, and I hope for her as well. As I remember others, I can still laugh or even cry a little. Anyway I think about it, my life has been enriched. It is interesting that there are several different kinds of flowers that symbolize friendship. I selected the sunflower out of all of them to go with this post, not just because I had a picture of one that I really liked, but also because they are cheery flowers that make people feel good when they see them. They are also long lasting and durable. My friend may move further away, but she will always continue to be my friend and thinking about her will make me feel good.