What could be better than a quiz with no grades!
There are old friends, occasional friends, distant friends, new friends, and family friends. There are good friends. For me, a good friend is a regular, supportive part of one’s life. To paraphrase Thomas Fuller, If you have one good friend, you have more than your share.
It’s a “true, false, maybe yes, or somewhat” quiz. Let’s rock.
Uno, do good friends both like and actively show their interest in you? Duh! Pretty simple? Many people may like you (i.e. find you pleasant, nice) but don’t really have much interest in your story, the details of your life. With a good friend, you have a voice in the relationship.
Two, one of the primary characteristics of good friends is that they listen, and then listen some more? (Not a hard quiz, yes?)
Three, do good friends have common interests? To develop as good friends, must there be a meaningful intersection of mutual interests (i.e. being, say, physically active, talking politics, the same faith, involved in the community, or literary topics)? However nice and decent two people may be, can their friendship jump into the good category without common interests?
Quatro, time. Some folks in retirement have lots of disposable time. People who are working, raising kids, and/or tending to extended-families do not often have the same amount of time. Do those most reasonable demands by one party make growing a good friendship a challenge?
Cinco de Mayo, between times together, do good friends connect, evenly briefly, by say text, phone, or email? Such digital communication may be just a line every week or two, but is it necessary to keep good friends connected?
Six, let’s throw in geography. Without the casual contact friends, whether it be in the neighborhood, over coffee, on the pickleball court, while walking in town, can distances of even 10 or 25 miles away keep friendships from making it into the good category?
Seventh heaven, maybe a good friend is just someone who makes you feel special.
