What a true friend is

Kathryn and Trynie - being silly together

Yes, its Christmas time, and we all know that it is a time for celebration, for holidays, and for being with family and friends.  All good things for sure - and all of these are self explanatory, except for maybe the word friend.  What exactly is a friend?
Well, there are definitions from books and web sites, and then there is the general idea floating around out there about what a friend is.  You can have friends on Facebook, you have your childhood friends and your friends at school or work.  With these definitions we could each say that we have dozens, hundreds, maybe even a plethora of friends.  I think a friend is deeper than what the electronic consensus is, and is narrower than what you could find on paper.  I think a friend is someone who accepts you fully for who you are.
Now, I don't want to dissuade people from being friends, or make it seem like a superficial thing.  What I want is for you to think about those people who accept you fully for who you are.  Those people where, without pretense or sheltering your character, you can be fully who you are.  You can be silly, sad, angry, or hilarious, you can lay your heart fully exposed upon your chest with your deepest thoughts laid bare, and those people will still care about you and enjoy spending time with you.
How many people in my life are there where this is true?  How many people in your life?  And the wonderful thing is that you end up being the same kind of friend to them as they are to you.  True friendship is mutual; it is self sacrificing, it is accepting the other fully for who they are.  Many of the relationships I have are guarded, not because I don't trust people but because we haven't spent the kind of time together and gone through the kinds of things together that are required for true friendship to be developed.  I can say one thing about each of those who are my deepest friends; we all trust each other implicitly and there is no need for explanations.  That kind of relationship comes only with time, through pain, and with trust. 
My deep friends know that I love and trust them.  I hope that yours do too.