the meaning of great friends

After one of my friends tried to help me through some writer's block (thanks, Jill!) by suggesting that I write about the meaning of great friends, I got to thinking: "what makes a great friend?"

I typed that question into google to see what other people on the interweb thought the answer was.  One answer in particular stood out:

"...a good friend is still the person who gives you the better of the two choices, hold your hand when you're scared, helps you fight off those who try to take advantage of you, thinks of you at times when you are not there, reminds you of what you have forgotten, helps you put the past behind you but understands when you need to hold on to it a little longer, stays with you so that you have confidence, goes out of their way to make time for you, helps you clear up your mistakes, helps you deal with pressure from others, smiles for you when they are sad, helps you become a better person."

I really could not have said it any better myself.  This is exactly, to me, what makes a great friend.  After reading this I thought long and hard about the friends that I have.  I realized I have three great friends.  One, being Hubby.  The other two being girlfriends.  One I met a looong time ago at the very beginning of high school.  The other, has come into my life more recently.  Either way, I consider them both great friends.  Through my many years (ha!) in life I've learned that great friends are really hard to come by.  When you find one, hold on tight.

This also reminded me what it takes to be a great friend.  Sometimes being a great friend means doing something that you don't want to make the other happy, or dropping everything to be by their side to comfort them in a time of need. It reminded me that even though I try to be a great friend, sometimes I need reminding.  I think we all do, from time to time.