A friend of mine...

A friend of mine is being inundated with personal crises. Every time he turns around, yet another person has gotten sick, yet another roadblock has been thrown on his road, yet another layer of stress has been added to his existence. He has never once complained - not to me, at least.

In fact, when we start talking, invariably the first thing from his mouth (or typing fingers) is a cheerful greeting and a 'how are you doing?' Not just the reflex 'how ya doing' and then turn topic to something else.. he genuinely cares.

I'm beginning to think that friendships are in classes like cars...

there's the zippy and dang expensive foreign sports model - moves real fast, zooms up and cheers up with a flashy paint job, then zooms off around the next curve, leaving you scratching your head and grinning - very high maintenance and can frequently break down while idling. Easily stolen, gets lost with amazing regularity, and no, you can't drive it unless you are a recent graduate of a racing school's 4-day intensive course at the Brickyard.

There's the big luxury model - moves at a goodly rate of speed, difficult to park, spends a lot of time in the repair shops consuming friendship flowers and mugs - high maintenance but great if you can afford one. You could sleep four in the back seat and still have room to crowd around the mini-bar.

There's the two-door model - room for you and the friend, a small purse or briefcase - easy to park, easy to shift gears, pretty dang reliable - requires regular maintenance (as all good cars do) but gets surprisingly great mileage. Once in awhile you get to drive while friend naps.

There's the minivan model - seats a dozen!, stops at all major intersections and picks up more friends or drops off a few, parking can be difficult as it tends not to stop moving for long enough to park - maintenance required but can be ride-shared with ease, and nobody's going to notice if you fall asleep in the back seat while the thing rolls along. Usually only one or two 'trusted drivers' get to pilot.

There's its big cousin, the SUV - just like a minivan only lots bigger, can offroad with ease, climbs vertical surfaces like a mountain goat, can hold nine kayaks, five surfboards, and a small cow - breaks down only when it is conveniently positioned 97 miles from civilization but if its Onstar system fails, the 37 cell phones, built-in GPS, two spare ham radio sets, grizzled wilderness tracker and his band of Boy Scouts should be able to get things back on track quickly - requires maintenance in the form of an onboard specialized mechanic/software engineer, but hey, it's FUN!

There's the four-door model - room for a good group but you can still can stretch your legs, makes long runs with ease, with pretty great mileage, carries enough luggage to keep all passengers well clothed and fed over a nice week-long trip - requires maintenance but what doesn't? - runs on regular gas, occasional phone calls, and corn oil in a pinch. Everyone takes turns behind the wheel.

What kind of friendship is yours?

-=-

Blood clot in leg is being aggressively 'managed' - film at 11.