Pass Me a Shovel

In my experience true friends are rare and hard to come by. Sure you may have plenty of people that hang out with you, but how many of them would still be there when the smoke clears? I'm talking about a friend that would pull you out of a burning building here. Someone you can count on to have your back without having to look over your shoulder. I have no doubt that some people will go through life and never even experience such a friend. It seems like too many people are willing to leave you on the side of the road if a better opportunity presents itself.

There are many encounters in this world that allow you to meet people. Unfortunately, out of the many rendezvous of our lives, a slim few will reward you with a real friend. Situations such as school, work, and vacations present us with a multitude of new people. At something like a graduation everyone goes around hugging each other and talking about how they'll keep in touch. If you're lucky you will actually be able to maintain one or two of these relationships, but odds are you will never see the majority of these people again.

Recently I've lost contact with a person that I seriously thought was one of these friend for life kind of people. I don't want to go into details because I'm certainly not writing this as an attack at anyone. It is merely a personal situation that helps prove my point. People meet new friends, look for new encounters, and just plain change. Sometimes a person you've known since you were a child will do something you'd never expect and completely alter the light in which you see him or her. It's nobody's fault, just the truth.

I am lucky to have some of these scarce real friends. I hope they know how much they mean to me. It's real friends like these that keep you going when you don't see any way out. Thanks for being the light at the end of my tunnel.