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my friend

E.M. Forster once wrote, “If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.” That’s not an indictment of patriotism; it’s a testament to the trust of friendship.

It’s such a deceptively simple word, friend. It’s one of the few words that has always meant exactly the same thing. It comes from the Proto-Germanic word frijōjands, which meant ‘one attached to another by feelings of personal regard and preference’.

Friendship has always existed. It’s a fundamental construct of nature, grounded in an often unexplainable affinity — a natural liking or attraction to another, a relationship between beings who are unrelated that is as close and important as family. It’s not limited to humans; humans and animals can share a friendship; animals can be friends with other animals. But for humans, friendship is a necessary quality in order to be whole. A person without a friend is incomplete.

To call somebody ‘my friend’ is, or ought to be, a high compliment. To have somebody call you ‘my friend’ is to receive a blessing.

Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, greg fallis and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work