That's what friends are for

It's interesting having only gay boyfriends as my closest friends. There is usually always some kind of drama going on.

Lately, however, life has been quite drama-free. I attribute that to the absence of two "friends." One, who is no longer a friend of any of ours, caused much stress, drama, and hurt feelings among the others. The other, well, he's still kinda there, in the background, yet he only acknowledges my friendship. I wish he wouldn't, at times. You see, he often puts me in the middle of his problems with others and it's very frustrating.

One of my favorite movies is The Sandlot. It's a movie about a group of young boys who play baseball one summer and grow to be the best of friends that summer. After seeing them work and play together that summer, you feel like they are going to be friends for the rest of their lives. At the end of the movie, however, the narrator tells us that they all moved away and fell out of touch with each other. But that one summer will always make them friends. I sometimes wonder about my current friends. Will we still be friends when we're older? Or will we all move on and grow apart? Of course, we are all adults on our ways to the careers and lifestyles of our choosing, but still, it makes me wonder.

I find a certain happiness with my current friends. Once, in front of a very large group, I broke down crying and said that my gay friends were my family and that they mean so very much to me.

That's why it's hard for me to see them upset or hurt or in pain. It's hard for me when one says mean and untrue things about another. The mother in me just wants to wrap my arms around them and tell them everything will be okay and then everything really will be okay. But life's not like that.

I'm not sure how I got to be "The Advisor One." I don't mind it at all, though, because I know that when I have a problem (and Lord knows I've had my share this year) I can go to one of them just like they have come to me. It only bothers me that one GBF uses me. He is the most selfish of all my friends and only calls me when he needs something. I'm not sure why I let him use me like he does. He's a strange one with many problems even I can't help him with.

I hope, however, that the close circle of us who are really good friends, will continue to be friends--through the good and the bad so when we're 80-years-old and still getting together on Monday nights, we can all look back and say, "Remember that one time when we...That was great."

Keep smiling, keep shining

Knowing you can always count on me, for sure.

That's what friends are for.

For good times and bad times,

I'll be on your side forevermore.

That's what friends are for.

"That's What Friends Are For"

Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight, & Stevie Wonder