Hi @galenkp, I love your question! Like you at 49 years old, I have very few people I could truly call friends, maybe I count them on the fingers of my right hand and have fingers to spare, but the important thing here are the people who are there.

So I am going to tell you about my best friend, we met 30 years ago. At that time I was 19 and she was 31. We met in college, I was studying at night and she clicked right away with me. From that moment on we became almost sisters. At first it was because of a common interest, studying. I almost lived in her house, while she was cooking, taking care of her daughter and her husband, I was chasing her around the house, going over study subjects with her.

Eventually she helped me get a job where she worked, so we were not only study partners, but also work partners and she became my sensei, as far as work was concerned. She taught me everything she knew.

After finishing college, I retired from work and went to live in another city. Our lives continued to be united by that invisible bond that marks a true friendship. At least once a month we talk and it is a fluid conversation, based on mutual respect, admiration, understanding, loyalty and commitment. I feel her as my sister and I know she feels the same way about me. Just thinking of her or her thinking of me is enough for the phone to ring and our voice to change immediately. Thank you for the moment of instropection!

Here my friend an I.