In life we find ourselves upon many crossroads with different people. Some of whom leave an impact in our lives forever, and others whom we never think of again. It’s amazing to see how throughout our entire lives we will go through the process of unfolding many friendships as well as seeing many of them wither away into memories of yesterdays. Most of my life I’ve always looked for comfort among my friends more so than in anyone else. There’s a saying that goes “friends are the family you choose” and it’s true, without them I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

There’s a difference between acquaintances and friends. An acquaintance is a person with whom you practice hi and bye conversations. This is a person who knows nothing about your humor, your embarrassing laugh, your fears and secrets, or even how you look without makeup. An acquaintance is only there when it’s convenient. It’s crazy but through analyzing this, I’ve come to list groups of people that where and will always just be acquaintances. Among this list the two groups that surprised me the most were relatives and ex boyfriends or whatever they were. I personally have an extremely extended family, and I’ve always thought it was weird but most of them don’t even know I exist and if they do, they don’t know anything about who I really am. These are supposedly people I’ve known or have known me since I was born. So isn’t it weird that relatives can be acquaintances? The second group which I mentioned, also stunned me because it’s been inculcated to me that the person whom you are supposed to share your most intimate moments with should know that exactly, the most intimate thing about you; which in my opinion is not physical but mental. They should know what drives you and what breaks you, and besides one exception, in my situation it is with these people that I block myself the most. In other words, they never knew who I truly am inside and maybe it’s because I didn’t have a chance to show it or maybe it’s because I didn’t want to. Either way, they are acquaintances and simply that. The moment I realized this, I felt a surge of irony settle in. Looking back at all the time I spent worrying about someone who still doesn’t know me and spending minutes calling my mom with a broken heart as she attempted to heal my wounds, these people were just strangers passing by through a brief moment in my life.

Now a friend, is much more than just someone who knows you. A friend is someone who knows you inside and out. A person that will warn you when you are making a mistake even though you refuse to accept it because no one likes to be told when they’re wrong. A friend knows what’s better for you in the long run even though that opinion might not be what you want to hear. A friend sticks by you when you hit rock bottom, he doesn’t walk away simply because he doesn’t have the right words to say. They don’t question or critique your moments of impulsiveness because whatever the outcome is they’ll be there in the end. Friends care about knowing if you’re okay, they care about how your family is doing, they ask if your cat is still sick even though they don’t like cats. Friends dig a hole in their grandmother’s backyard to host your hamster’s funeral even though they know how much trouble they’ll be in once she comes out and sees a patch of dirt where it shouldn’t be. These are the people whom you can be in a car with in total silence and it’s not awkward at all because you’re just enjoying each other’s company. They know when somethings wrong and they also know not to bring it up because sometimes, some things are better left unsaid. These people, though not always, share your dreams and aspirations and help you get there as they share theirs with you.

We always have a certain type of people we gravitate towards. For example most of my friends have always been guys, and though sometimes I wish they were girls, I wouldn’t change any aspect of them. It might be strange but it is with them that I’ve grown to be the woman that I am so far. They’ve taught me how to be a stronger girl. I feel like it’s always expected that women should empower women, yet these boys whom I’ve witnessed grow into men have empowered me the most just by allowing me to be a part of their lives. I’ve made many friends in different periods of my life. Some are still around trying to figure out adulthood with myself and some aren’t, although I know that in our own particular ways we wish each other the best in life. As I’ve grown, I have come to realize that friends are the relationships you should cherish the most. A real friendship, the kind that no matter how long time passes you know you’ll always be able to pick up right where you left off, the kind that even though things ended badly the last time you talked somewhere along the way things were forgiven, a friendship that is honest even when it hurts, those are the ones that last. It is these people that will shape your life without you even realizing it, and once you do, you’ll be nothing but thankful that somewhere along the way your paths crossed and they made an impact in your life forever.