"If you're ever in a jam, here I am . . ." the line from the song "Friendship" is the sentiment that most people are looking for in a friend. Sadly, too often we want someone else to be that friend for us but we don't fully grasp the need to be that same kind of friend for them. And with the runaway popularity of social media like Facebook, the idea of friendship has reached an all-time high in terms of glossy surface.

I am not advocating changing the language used in social media. After all, it's nice to have a growing number of friends. And of course friends come in all shapes and sizes. There are those friends who are your friends because you have experience in common--grade school, high school, college or military; there are friends who come from a work setting; there are friends who are friends because of proximity--your next-door-neighbor; there are friends who are friends because of Providence.

Friends are people with whom we are polite, and more than polite. Friends are those with whom we share pieces of our life. The closeness of the friendship determines the size of the pieces of our lives.

The best thing about a good friend is that they will remain our friend when we are not so friendly, they stick by us through thick and thin, and over time zones of distance. The old saying is, "to have a friend, be a friend."

For you, my friend (since you read the whole post), I am thankful.