There is no 'best' type of friend. You have the partner in crime, who often gets you in a bit of trouble, and the 'parent', who often saves you from said trouble. You have the sibling, who you find yourself bickering with more than getting along with, but you also have the other half, who you seem to agree with so much, that you start to wonder whether you two have identical minds. Personally, I adore all of these types of friends because they are all so different and wonderful and make for a colorful rainbow buffet in your life. In my opinion, though, there is one type of friend that is often underrated. This person is typically forgotten about when you make lists of the people you are closest to, but your friendship is still so strong. You rarely see this person because he/she is not always prioritized like the other people in your life. As unfortunate as it is, your friendship does not suffer. You don't talk about this friend to others much because truthfully, they slip from your mind. Occasionally, though, an old joke or iconic memory will come up in conversation and suddenly, this person is all that you think about. Your mind is filled with memories of your best moments together and your ears are ringing with the sound of his/her voice and some of the best moments of your life.
This friend, to me, is the most underrated type because he/she will never leave your side. If you need this person, he/she would drive miles and miles just to be with you. In fact, if you ever did call for help, he/she would drop everything and spend hours talking you through whatever you were struggling with. This friendship is so special in the fact that neither party needs any sort of assurance of the strength of its' bond. In fact, it is assumed that distance is no danger. Lack of communication is actually pretty normal. It doesn't matter how much time passes between talks because the two of you pick up immediately where you left off, as if it were only yesterday that you had seen each other.
Your dynamic is so natural with this type of friend. You don't feel the need to force anything because you know that he/she loves you for your true self. This friend has seen so many sides of you that you know that practically nothing can scare him/her off anymore. Whenever you are around this friend, you feel at ease. Even just sitting in silence without trying to figure out what to say is more comforting than a lot of other situations with other friends.
More often than not, you can talk to this friend completely and utterly freely. He/she is often disconnected from the drama of your main friend group, so you are able to gush about your emotions and opinions as well as tell stories that he/she would not have heard before. It's also refreshing to hear about your friend's life, because he/she spends time with people that you don't, so you wouldn't have heard your friend's stories before, either. Having a friend so detached is refreshing, since he/she can also provide a new insight on life. Being surrounded by such likeminded people, as what often happens within a cohesive friend group, causes you to adapt to that group mentality. This friend gives you a new perspective, keeps you grounded and reminds you what's real.
Overall, though, this friend is one of the best out there because you know that no matter what happens, you can count on him/her. When you two finally do make the time to meet up or talk on the phone, it can be take hours to pry you two apart. There is no judging and you have so much to talk about and so much to catch the other up on, but you also feel as though you only just saw one another. Time is not an object in this friendship, because even when it seems as though you have forgotten about him/her, an inside joke pops into your mind to remind you to reconnect with this old friend. This cycle will continue for as long as you want it to. I count my blessings every day for this friend who gave me and continues to give me the foundation of friendship as well as as to all the other friends I have that give me all the different colors in my rainbow of happiness. I will be forever grateful for all of you.
