Bosom friends are rare, and they are there for us throughout our lives.
They civilize us in private and defend us in public. They are happy with our successes
and encourage us when we fail. They remember who we would like to meet and
arrange a lunch so that we can do so. When they see us feeling down,
they ask other friends to pay us some attention. They write to us from the
other side of the world where they are having a fabulous holiday.
They come and stay in our home if we are afraid of being alone.
They are kind without being funny, our confidants without being indiscreet,
attentive without being possessive, concerned without being paternalistic.

They can be our parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, a former schoolmate,
neighbours, co-workers, or even old boyfriends or girlfriends.
They can live on another continent or work fourteen hours a day,
but they are always available to us.

Who has a few friends like that has a lot.

-- Margarida Rebelo Pinta OLA! Semanario, Lisbon --