Fred Boyles
Guest Contributor
When I list all of the qualities I want from a best friend. The list reflects my immaturity selfish little boy in me.
My best friend always:
- Answers the phone when I need to talk. He listens until iam done, and any time of day.
- He loans me money when needed. I can trust him with my wife.
- We watch tv together. When we talk he always adds value to my ideas and even and when I am wrong he builds on my ideas that makes me right. We hang out when I want to. We work out together. We play tennis five days a week, and as a doubles partners, we always support each other. He looks for medicine to deal with my health issue.
- We go on adventures together: fly fishing, bike rides, tennis. I am always better informed thanks to him. I like me better because of his insights.
- I don’t feel lost, out of control or stressed out due to his care of me. Mostly I love us.
Once I put the list together, I discovered that only God could give all of that to me. Even the tennis part.
Most importantly, I did not want to sacrifice that much to be a best friend.
The one characteristic that I found in a good friend is a willingness to sacrifice for the good of the community.
An example would be our men’s division (Big Stick) Christmas dinner for the battered women shelter. When I look at the picture of those men I feel grateful, trusting and close to them.
In that moment they are my best friend.