Are friends forever?

[itsnotyouitsme]

There's an old saying, maybe some of you have heard it. It goes something like this:
"Friends serve their purpose and leave"

 

[Sweep117]

There is no way in hell friends aren't forever.

Relationships on the other hand, come and go.

I knew a guy once, we were very tight. In shitty times, I'd stay with him and his folks, and we would generally get along together like family. As time passed, he started hanging out with a white power grouo(which was odd considering he was native american, but thats anothet story) and using heroin, which I personally objected to. After a while trying to persuade my friend to give up the ghost, I gave up. For the past 4 or 5 years, we havent talked, and I doubt we ever would again. But it didn't end because we werent friends anymore, only because we ended up on different paths. I don't even have the time to tell all the stories I have like this.

Bottom line is though, you can't lose the memories and moments you've got with people. It sounds shitty and corny, but by god it'll make sense to you at one point in time.

I went through something similar with my best friend the last few years.

Honestly, I can't remember why we stopped talking to each other. A few years agoe, one or both of us got pissed at the other and we just stopped talking. We saw each other every Sunady at church but never spoke. Maybe a nod or mumble if we passed each other in the hall and we had no problem asking for help with a vocal part in band practice. (Choir practice, actually, but it's more of a band with many vocalists.) Despite a few attempts on my part to get our friendship back on the road, we just couldn't talk to each other. Then, a couple months ago, we sat down and talked, got a few issues out of the way, came to a mutual agreement on some differences and now, things between us couldn't be better.

For this reason and more that I didn't mention, I honestly believe friends {i]can[/i] be forever. Of course, there's no guarantee but in my life, I've seen and experienced enough proof that it's entirely possible and very probable. My dad and his best friend stayed in contact for thirty/thirty-five years, even after his friend moved to Scotland. Every time he came home to visit or for business, my dad was the one to pick him up and they went out for wings and beer. Every time. That's how I see me and my friend. Friends for life. If ignoring each other for three years doesn't kill a friendship, nothing will.

my friend left be because i had the hots for him

That guy's an asshole. Sorry, but it's true. I've liked and been liked by a few of my friends. It became common knowledge between us but didn't change a thing.

 

[Flap Jack452]

Friends come and go, its how they affect you in the time that you knew that is amazing.

 

[S.H.A.R.P.]

There was this article on the escapist a while ago. About the amount of friends people have. I can't find it at the moment, but it said that most people have an inner circle of friends who are his true friends, and mostly stay loyal for a long time. There are more circles of friends, and the more off-centre the circle is, the longevity and closeness is more fleeting.

I think that is applicable here too. I have a few friends I really love (in a pure heterosexual fashion). I can't see us parting ways any time soon, though of course nothing is certain in life. I don't mind that we may part ways, and won't have as much contact as we used to. As long we keep in touch every now and then the friendship will last. Friends forever? I can't imagine anything else with those people

 

[MelziGurl]

Depends of the people you are friends with. My closest friends, are the ones I share common interests with and that I can trust with my life. If I disagree with something (depending on the circumstances) then I will take the friendship down a notch or just end it. I have done so in the past and it's been the best thing for me.

 

[goodman528]

Depends on the friends. I have two close friends from high school (one of whom is my best friend). We talk some during school, but we lose most contact for a good part of the year. When we get back together during summers and vacations, The relationships haven't changed. We're as close as (if not closer than) ever. It's possible that'll change over time, but from the examples I've seen it doesn't. My father has been best friends with someone for decades (I think about 30 years). Not forever, yet, but still a damned long time.

But, it depends on how you use the word "friend". If you just mean "people you hang out with", that's transient. If you mean someone you share your real self with, and who accepts you, and who shares his or her real self with you and you accept him or her, there aren't many reasons you'd lose contact completely.

I like to think of it this way: would you give this person a damaging picture of you? Something bad, that if it got out it would ruin your life? If the answer is "yes", you have a real friend. If the answer is anything other than an immediate "yes", then it's transient.

It's interesting how in public I refer to all my acquitances as friends, but when I thought about it last night, the definition of "friend" I have in my head is a lot closer to what you just said, and of those, I don't have many at all.

Talking of history, my great Granpa had a real friend, they shared food when they were refugees during the war, and stuck together through the communist purges. Though they went their separate ways eventually, and only saw each other once a year, or once every few year, the bond between our families was still strong. Even now when both of them has died, I could still count on a "brother" from the other family to offer me a temporary place to stay, if I was to find an job in their city. Even though we've only spoken on the phone a couple of times. I think that's amazing after 4 generations.

 

[Hellion25]

Its true that friends do often drift apart, however you can tell a true friend because they are the person who you can not see for 5-10 years and yet can slip right back into friendship with as soon as you see them. Those are the people who will really be there when you need them.

 

[Gooble]

I hope so, but it's just essentially making the time. With social networking sites, IM's and developments in mobile technology it's made it a lot simpler to stay in contact with people. Admittedly when you're grown up with responsibilities you work until early evening, go home, make dinner, eat dinner, do any necessary tidying/cleaning/paperwork/bills/DIY, leaving a fairly short time for yourself. But the time is there if you make it so.

 

[Hamsterlad]

Sadly no, friends are not forever, friends will drift apart eventually. Some friends may try to keep you as a friend after you move away ,or graduate from high school or college.

You could be friends with someone from grade school and you may feel that you will be friends forever. But the reality is feelings change within people, and interests change, what was fun about someone a few years or weeks ago can turn annoying to you. And some people after they move do not even want to have contact with you because they do not want to remember "the good old days" and just move on with there lives.

 

[Echo42]

friends till you decapitate his family and offer him to your new found god

 

[Echo42]

my friend left be because i had the hots for him

cant blame him Itachi, you killed your whole Family =.= (reffer to his pic for all those who dont realise this)

 

[Raven's Nest]

I remember back in high school, we once got crazy on an impulse, and had a BBQ at night on the beach. I got a bit drunk, turned a beer bottle upside down, and wrote in big letters on the sand, "friends forever". It was washed away by the tide.

That made me cry a little inside... you bastard you!

It took me until I was 20 years old to realise what true friendship is. I don't expect to meet any of my old friends ever again.

 

[KiKiweaky]

you know who your mates are, I'm still friends with people from primary school.

Though I have stopped hanging round with one fella (that at one point I thought we'd be the ould feckers in the pub we were such great buds) cos he was with a group who were into drugs and recently I was talking to him n now they are taking pills n r now into cocaine. He was always into drugs anyway but just started hangin round with a diferent group. I still talk to him n tell him if there's a party or what not but I wouldnt consider us great friends anymore.

The people I'm friends with now I can see us having bbq's n the like when were older, but as you have seen I can be proved horribly wrong :<

 

[TwistedEllipses]

'Friends till one or both of you die' seems a much more reasonable arrangement that doesn't allow for infinite time ranges or the existence of a afterlife...

 

[Abedeus]

I've been a friend with a girl (yes, a friendship between a male and a female... possible, ain't it?) for... 13 years and counting. We still have our BFF necklaces (I just have to find my half somewhere ;d). And I'm going with her to my sister's wedding. It's also pretty impossible not to get in touch with her - she lives 5 minutes away if I walk slowly.

 

[Shycte]

Three words

Nothing lasts forever.

 

[chaser[phoenix]]

I can stick to what the majority of people are saying here.
From personal experience I've learned friendship is never a 'forever' thing.
At some point paths change; jobs change, colleges, even personal interests change.

I suppose age may affect a lot of these changes, and I'm convinced the best friends I've ever had personally were my middle/high school friends.

 

[goater24]

Yeah well with the advent of technologies making it easy to stay in touch with folks friendships can grow, mature and be maintained at any distance should both parties be compliant.

Thats the true test of a friendship...How long can you stay on the same page for?

 

[MoganFreeman]

Nothing lasts forever.

But the better the friendship, the longer it'll last. Sometimes they even last for life.

 

[Skalman]

Nothing is forever. Nothing.