FRIENDSHIPS
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Those who follow these commentaries may have noted that any elements of introspection which occasionally pop up in them…are mostly expressed as philosophy on wry. That’s not a deliberate superficiality on our part but, perhaps, simply a deficiency in our capacity to express serious thoughts about any subject since philosophy has never been our strong suit.

Since trying to define – friendship – is something requiring serious philosophical thought, that leaves us at a loss because…friendships…have no metrics by which they can be quantified, other than saying that some are “closer” than others existing on a lesser scale of that qualifier; but, none of that explains how these form or from whence they derive. The best we can say about it is…friendships are…therefore they exist.

Looking at the back trail of our life we find we can recall most of those we have known, from earliest childhood to the most recent past. Yet, their only commonality seems to be propinquity of time, place, and circumstance…with their degrees of closeness deriving from the intensity of what those circumstances were…and how these were shared (which largely explains why the bonds between those who’ve served in combat are so uniquely stronger than other kinds).The question remains, however, how do these form? One way or another we’ve all had them, so why is it so difficult to explain it? Do such bonds derive from some form of indefinable pheromone interaction of pleasure from our mutual presence…no matter how different each might be from the other? We do not know, we’re just glad they are there to form such a bond.

Of one thing we are certain…friendships…no matter how casual or close are always tender, fragile things, and must be tended to if they are to exist at all, otherwise they fade away into that misty shadowy world of our mind’s…memory. Unfortunately, our modern world’s frantic pace, not to mention its vast dispersions of where and how we live, make that a very difficult thing to do. No computer screen beeping…you’ve got mail!…can compare to sharing an eyeball to eyeball presence now and then. Virtual reality will never be a substitute for the real thing.

Well, to paraphrase what those three tenors sang…here’s to all those friends we’ve known, and with whom we shared the pleasures of a glass, pursued the wildest of adventures, enjoyed the most ribald of jokes and laughter, faced down hard adversities, or happily roared at our successes, while otherwise sharing golden nuggets of time with each other…the sum of which has given meaning to our lives.

CENTURION