The importance of friends

After all that has happened this past week, hell this past year, I've really come to appreciate all the people in my life, particularly my friends. My friends here my friends back home, it doesn't matter. They have been there for me. When I was sad they would do everything in their power to help me. My friends back home would tell me everything is going to be okay and it will get better. My friends here would take me to do something around town to try and get my mind off things. It was really nice to know I had people there to help me through what is perhaps one of the toughest weeks of my entire life.  So it got me thinking, we've been learning about the power of friends and friendship ever since we first got into preschool.  But its times like these... times that really try our emotions and hearts... that show us really how important friends are.  So what is a friend?

Well first there is the basic preschool, Barney and Sesame Street version of a friend. A friend is someone who will you can have fun with and tell all of your secrets too. A friend will be there when your happy and when your sad. A friend will be there when your successful and a friend will be there when your mad. Let's see what other rhymes we can make about friendship. But no seriously if we follow the old definition of a friend then we would probably have like 0 friends. So let me tell you what a friend really is:

A friend smacks you in the face with the $120 he got from his last paycheck and makes it rain just because he can't.  A friend strips down and runs through your house naked just to piss you off. A friend buys a horse mask and wears it all over your high school the last day of your senior year. A friend walks back from physics with you have ever seen. A friend lets you copy his physics test because you got shitfaced in Cancun and can barely remember your own name.  A friend teaches you the ins and outs of mortal combat and totally freaks out your girlfriend.  A friend gets in a car accident because he refused to look before he switched lanes. A friend comes to the scene of the accident even though he has a massive amount of weed in his pocket. A friend helps you out when your laid up from a torn ACL. A friend drives you around to everyone's graduation party  when you can't drive yourself just because he wants you to be there.  A friend hugs you when you leaves for school and when you come back for break. A friend is there when you lose the love of your life and he tells you not to give up on love. A friend takes time out of his busy schedule to make sure that your alright.

A friend walks around with you in State college the first week of school when you don't know anyone or anything.  A friend pees in another persons room and sprints back to bed and pretend like nothing happened. A friend brings you home from getting absolutely shitfaced and makes sure your okay and then shits on you the next day. A friend takes pictures of you when your drunk and then makes sure everyone can   see you.  A friend goes to chronic town with you everyday for a whole semester and pays. A friend gets an underage and then forgets everything you did for him, which allows you to make up everything from the previous night.  A friend steals a mcdonalds cone and a liscese plate from a frat that won't let you in. A friend has a wine social in your dorm just to feel fancy. A friend takes care of you when you have a stomach virus and then lets you know just how demonic it sounds when you puke. A friend decorates your entire floor with you and plays Christmas carols because they know how much you care about the holidays. A friend teabags you when the Pats lose the Superbowl but celebrates with you when Penn State wins against Illinois. A friend sits around and plays video games with you but goes out to play football when the weather is nice. A friend puts up with the worst teacher in humanity with you, and then sits in a room with you for 10 hours doing a stupid project. A friend gets you through the pain of a break-up, all the crying and anger and depression. A friend eats every meal with you, sleeps in the same building with you and spends all the time they can with you.

So that's what friendship is to me. I've had some great times with my friends. They have been with me through the end of high school and the beginning of college. They were with me when I was drunk and sober, when i was happy and sad. Through pain and near death experiences and some of the happiest moments of my entire life. And most importantly they have been there throughout this newest hardship. Thank you to all of my friends.  I'll never forget any of you or what you have done.