Friends make life worth living

I'm sitting here, getting ready for bed, and I can't help but think about an e-mail forward my friend Lauren sent me, well, it has to be more than a year ago. Normally, I don't pay much attention to e-mail forwards, but this one has stuck with me.

It was all about three types of friends: friends for a reason, friends for a season and friends for a lifetime.

FRIENDS FOR A REASON

Friends for a reason are the people who pop into your life at a moment when you exactly need them. They may be close or not close, but they are in your life to teach you something or to help you make some realization about life or just to get you through a rough patch.

These friendships won't last long; they may end well, or they may end poorly. But by knowing these people, you come away with some better knowledge of life.

FRIENDS FOR A SEASON

Friends for a season are friends for a period of your life. It could be weeks or months or even years, but when that part of your life is over, so is the friendship.

These friends come into your life, often with great fanfare, and then they leave your life, most often on Sandberg's "little cat feet."

FRIENDS FOR A LIFETIME

Friends for a lifetime are just that: They are the people who always will be with you. More family than friend, they see you at your best and at your worst. They don't judge you for your faults. In fact, your faults are part of why they love you. You both know that no matter what, nothing you ever could do would destroy that friendship.

Sometimes, they start slowly; sometimes, they start quickly. They never end.

In my life, I've had a lot of friends for a reason. Not all of them have been good. I've always tried to keep an open mind with all of my friends (God knows, no one can do it all the time), so I would like to think that I have learned and grown as a result of all my relationships with my friends for a reason.

I've had even more friends for a season. I thought that many of them were friends for a lifetime, but I was wrong. In most all the cases, I didn't even realize the friendships were over until it was too late. Looking back, I am sad about some, but I really am content with the way most ended.

Friends for a lifetime, though, are the friends with whom I truly have been blessed. I'm not going to name any names, but these people keep me going every day.

Some have known me since college, some have known me for the better part of a decade, some have known me a few years and some have known me for only a few months. In every case, I have total faith that they all will be with me as long as I am alive.

All this really resonated with me after this weekend, when I had so many different groups of my friends together. Rarely have I ever felt so loved and special. It was such a deeply moving experience for me, being surrounded by so many phenomenal people. The fact that it happened during what has been a professionally and personally trying time made it even more amazing.

Not all of my friends were there, but everyone who was made it amazing in their own way. It's one of those memories I will carry with me.

For a lifetime.