I can't sleep

I've just been lying in bed, thinking to myself I have the best set of friends money can never buy. Friends who have seen me thru the darkest of days and the highest of times. People outside of family who know just about and nearly every aspect of my life. From weddings to funerals, birthdays to severe illness, these people have stood by me and stood with me, unwavering, and never flinching.

Joe is the person I have known the longest. He and I have known eachother since 1991, which makes us seem like brothers more than friends. We almost share a birthday, and we share so many things that interest us. We stay awake at nights on Saturday evenings talking about what's happening in our lives and getting things we need to say to others to eachother, just so it doesn't build up.

Evelyn is the person I have known almost as long as Joe. We have known eachother since 1994, and since then, there hasn't been a week that went by that we haven't mentioned eachothers names to friends we talk to, family we see, or co-workers who know us just by the stories told on Monday. Since Evelyn moved out of town, I have kept up contact with eachother and can't think of anyone I would rather be around more than her. The boundaries of relation show nowhere to us, I have always thought of her, and her sister Yolie as sisters of mine. I was honored deeply in 2002 and again in 2004 when her brothers welcomed me as a brother into the family, further reinforcing how much I love my friends.

Ralph is next on my list. He and I worked together for a brief period of time in 1997, but he and I were the best of friends while working. When I left, he and I stayed in constant contact, often times looking to me for moral support. Going to college and struggling with bills and personal problems kept both of us awake many a nights, but he became more than a friend from work, but a true friend who (along with Evelyn) taught me courage and strength to overcome difficult people. He lives life the way I imagine myself living life, up front, yet subdued.

These friends of mine, these four people I know are so special to me, I would drop everything I was doing, and help them out any way I could. I would deplete my credit cards, drive all night, wake up at odd hours of the night and go to their rescue if they ever called me and said the words "I need your help". I know one of these days it will happen that one will need that sort of aid, but its the least I can do for these people who selflessly act like family, and who are there for me without hesitation or question.

Maybe now, with this off my chest, I can fall asleep.