The bond between us

What is a true friend? A friend to me means they’ll help you no matter what the circumstance is. Can you think of a time when you needed help and a friend stepped in to help you? I can and I’m going to tell you about it.

When my parents were going through their divorce I had a friend and his family help me a lot through the struggle. They did whatever they could to help me and and make sure I was taken care of. When my mother and step-father whom I refer to as my parents because they truly are the only family I’ve known my entire life got divorced it took a giant toll on my well-being. My mother moved out and left me to take care of myself which at age 17 isn’t a terrible thing it was still hard for me. I had nobody to make dinner for me so most of the time I was eating fast food or just going without. When my friend found out about this he talked to his mother about it and they invited me to come for dinner at least one night a week but really the invitation was open every night. They also made me feel welcome to their house at any time I needed it to be, they even offered a bedroom to me if I ever needed a time away from all the chaos at home because of the divorce. I know this seems like a small gesture but to me this was huge. It showed that somebody still cared about me and was looking out for me. Their house became a safe space for me to talk about my feelings and be comfortable. There was no judgement about anything I said about my parents, I said some pretty nasty stuff out of frustration with them at the time. I’ve since realized there was more to it then I understood and It wasn’t either one of their faults.

Because of this welcoming from him and his family we have become extremely close and I feel like I can tell them anything that’s bothering me which is part of what got me through the divorce without having a mental breakdown. In return for their help during my hard time, I offered my assistance to them this year while they were having a rough patch in their family. My friend and his mother had gotten into a pretty big argument over something fairly small but the tension was high between them and I wanted to make a difference to them like they had to me. I offered rides to this friend anytime he needed to get out of the house, and when he took them my car was a safe spot for him to vent about anything he needed to get off his mind and helped talk him through his situation. At one point he called me and asked if I could go with him to his house to collect his stuff because his mother had kicked him out, of course I helped, I went and got him from work brought him to his house and packed as much stuff as we could fit into my tiny car, where some of it still lies. He shortly moved back when things settled down at home and I was glad to see that. He knows he can ask me for help at any time though and that is a huge part of our friendship.

I am glad that I have such a good friendship with this person because I never even needed to ask for help from his parents, he just offered it knowing that I was too stubborn to admit I needed support from somebody else. The bond between us is inseparable because we both help each other whenever it is needed. Having good friends is essential to life because when you’re in need who better to help than them?