On the Meaning of Friendship

There is this gentleman that I associate with through my work.  I am pretty positive that I have never in my born days met an individual more tirelessly self-promoting.  I've pretty much come to the conclusion that this dude is incapable of carrying on a conversation without drawing attention (multiple times) to who he knows, what he's done, where he's been, how awesome he is; you get the idea.  Now, where I come from, this is considered bad form.  Very bad form.  Needless to say, I've been...underwhelmed by his acquaintance.

Something interesting happened the other day, though.  As a bit of backstory, I am working with this man because of a rather large project we are mutually involved in - a project that is, shall we say, a bit of a personal renaissance for him.  In other words, it's a pretty big deal.  So, between the personality and the project, you can imagine my surprise when I received a terse email from him stating that an emergency had arisen and he would be unavailable for several days, possibly until further notice.  Under the circumstances, it was shocking, to say the least.  

Come to find out, an old friend had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and given just days to live.  Upon hearing the news, Mr. X dropped everything, cancelled meetings, extricated himself from the center of the action, and went straight to the bedside of his friend.  Not to drop by and pay his respects, but to stay by her side until the very end, simply because she wanted him to.

Frankly, this little episode made an impression on me that has stayed with me ever since.  Here's this guy - busy, big, important, living a life full of things to do, places to go and people to see.  And yet, somehow, when the call came from someone who needed him, he dropped everything, and was there.  Obnoxious, no doubt, but there.  Not a flower-sender or a card-mailer, a sympathetic phone call-maker or even a cash-donater.  He picked himself up and placed himself by her side, right where she wanted and needed him to be.  

It got me thinking about friendship.  What is it, anyway?  Is it having someone to shop with?  Go fishing with?  Is it Friday night couples dinner dates?  Is it someone who laughs really hard at the YouTube clips you post on Facebook?  Somebody who admires your new truck?  Maybe, it's all of these things, and a whole lot more - whatever it is that makes each of us single out another person and call him or her a friend.

I know for myself, though, I want friendship to mean more than that.  I want it to mean that my friends can count on me, through thick and thin.  To laugh with them, to cry with them, to cheer them on, to believe in them, to stand by their side, to hang on, no matter what life brings.  All the way to the very end.  And if and when that "I need you" call ever comes, I want them to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I will be there.

Furthermore, I do believe that to have a friend or three like that would make one the richest human being on the planet.  

Side note: In the interests of full disclosure, I do not regard this individual with the scorn I once did.