My Huckleberry Friend

I don’t want to be my children’s friend. I want to be their best friend (just like my mom and I have always been)…

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” William Shakespeare

“Friendship is the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words.” George Eliot

“It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.” Epicurus

“My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.” Henry Ford

“As a friend, you first give your understanding, then you try to understand.” Robert Brault

According to an informal friendship poll…

A friend is a person who smiles when they see you, every time, because they really like you.

A friend listens when you speak and speaks when they know you’re ready to listen.

Friends are people who challenge you, but never condemn you.

True friends stick by you even when whatever you’re dealing with isn’t their problem and doesn’t affect them personally.

A friend is always honest, even when being honest is hard.

A real friend knows when not to talk, just be there.

A real friend answers your phone call, every time, any time, day or night, no matter what.

True friends are real about their own struggles. They don’t act like they’re perfect. And that’s why you can be real with them and not have to act like you’re perfect, either.

A friend is someone you love to spend time with, someone you really enjoy and who enjoys you back.

A friend is someone who has time for your pain even when you’re kind of being a pain about it.

A good friend is kind and shares and you can totally relax with them.

Friends are people who you can be silly and goofy and dorky with one minute and who will hold you if you need to cry the next minute, and they don’t even have to know why.

A friend is someone who is always friendly and smiles a lot.

Friends are people who like you just the way you are, but still help you to be better.

A friend listens with empathy when you’ve messed up, speaks the truth in love, and offers to help you fix what needs to be fixed, no matter what it takes.

A real friend isn’t afraid to say hard things to you because they’ve already proven that they love you.

True friends don’t expect you to change to suit them. They accept you, period. But they’ll do whatever it takes to help you change what you want to change.

A friend is a friend all the time, even when you suck a little bit.

A true friend trusts you, even when you make mistakes, even when you fail them, even when you show up late to everything, they still trust you.

A friend loves at ALL times (and it shows!).

Friendship is about accepting who the other person is and not always having to agree with what they are doing, but loving them enough to tell them if we really believe they’re headed in the wrong direction.

A friend is someone you respect and who respects you.

Friendship isn’t about being in the right, it’s about being right with our friends.

A true friend always, always, always gives you the benefit of the doubt. They are willing, ready, and able to believe the best about you instead of assuming the worst.

A friend is someone you can trust.

A real friend is never afraid to come to you, and you’re never afraid to go to them, ever.

A friend is someone who’ll give you the cookie that wasn’t dropped on the floor, even if you wouldn’t know the difference.

A true friend is someone you can trust not to say something about you when you aren’t with them that they wouldn’t say when you are.

Friends are fair, but they’re not fair-weather friends, they’re always there.

True friends understand you even when you don’t understand yourself. They can do that because they’ve taken the time to get to know you through and through.

Real friends listen to your heart, not just your words.

A friend is always kind even when you don’t deserve kindness.

A friend is never, ever inconvenienced by you. Friendship isn’t about convenience, it’s about unconditional love, sacrifice, loyalty, and lots and lots of laughter.

Friends listen first and speak later.

A friend still sees your beauty even when the ugly in you is showing.

…and that’s exactly the kind of parent I want to be!