As I keep reminding any regular reader of my posts, I am blessed with wonderful friends. What is a "friend" to me? I think I have three criteria: 1) Someone I "know" (and like!), and 2) someone who "knows" me (and yes, likes me). 3) Someone who is reliable (including trustworthy).
I'm an awfully choosy person. And one who takes a long time to warm up to most people. Most of my friendships have developed through the test of time, and as time passes, they mean more and more to me. All three criteria above need time. But they also require effort - on both sides. At the minimum, this means semi-regular contact. Also, this effort needs to be mutual.
I think this "time" factor explains why most of my friends are either from my school days (long years together) or from Berlin (where I have spent the longest stretch of my life in one place). As a result of globalization, or our international backgrounds, we are scattered all over the place, far from where we started off being friends. Although time may be a barrier to friendships, geography fortunately isn't. Even before the internet days, as many of my dear friends will know.
Gratitude.
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