Friend?

One of my friends came over last night. He had flown in from Vancouver with a stop over in Winnipeg. He is in Ontario for a conference and he wanted to catch up and stay at my place for night. It was really nice to see him. I find him to be incredibly smart and kind. He stood up with me at my wedding. I have always admired him. He is without a doubt a good friend.

But it got me thinking. What is a friend? What changes a person in your life from a co-worker or an acquaintance to a friend? I think it comes down to how you introduce that person to other people. “Hi Jane, I’d like you to meet my friend Jon.” Or is it, “Hi Jane, I’d like you to meet Jon, we work together at…” Or even, “Hi Jane, this is Jon, an old acquaintance from…”

For some reason I am reminded of a quote by Dr. Seuss, “Those who matter don’t mind. Those who mind don’t matter.” Could this be the simplest way to define a friend? Is it someone in your life who is there and likes you just because you are you? Perhaps it is someone in your life who you don’t talk to for years and then when you finally meet, it’s like you never stopped.

You know, when I started writing this down, I thought I would come up with a great idea or definition of what a friend is. Now I realize I only have more questions. For instance, I was talking to my best friend about how to choose a Best Man or Bridesmaid for a wedding. How can you? How can you define who is your best friend? What criteria will you use? Does it simply become a catch-22?

I mean really. Who is your best friend and what criteria will you use to decide?