FriendShip

"Friendship" is a mild word for such an extraordinary and holy connection, for what can be the most sustaining, life-giving, death-defying relationships some of us will ever experience. My closest friends are the reason for my deep faith in God, because through them I have discovered what superhuman intimacy and devotion are. I have been blessed by people whose unconditional love and brilliance and loyalty have almost single-handily made it possible for me to survive.

I have always said that this experience called human life has not been a good match for me. A third of the time, it hurts you and yours too much. A third of the time, you feel so alien and clueless and inadequate that it might as well still be seventh grade. But that last third, where you get to talk to your friends, hang out and figure things out with them, commiserate, comfort and be comforted, gossip and laugh until you leak, is the realm where everything becomes worth it.

Our closest friendships are hallowed ground. When someone truly "gets" you, you're half the way home. There is no circumstance so miserable that your closest friends can't help you come through. If you have lost one of your best friends, then you have survived an unsurvivable loss. And it was almost certainly only your other closest, bosom-buddy friends who helped you do it, who sat in the dirt with you for as long as you needed, who brought you tea and never left, and who at some point helped pull you back up to your feet.