Friends, what determines a friend over a hiking friend, another Volleyball player or an old drinking buddy?
Or when I think of family, I only see & call mine around Birthdays & Holidays (there are a lot of children & grandchildren, I'm one of seven) while my wife is always on the phone talking about the most mundane aspsects of daily life & they care about that too. (I'd have to lose a limb before someone besides Mom would be concerned)
Back to friends:
Have meet several people here & on the AMC boards & hiked with about 15-20 other hikers, many I'd call a friend, not sure you'd be the first ones I'd write if my Grandmother passed tomorrow though. There is something to be said though about sharing the outdoors with others, especially in winter when their is an aspect of survival involved.
My other activity where I have had a passion is volleyball & when in season I'd call those guys friends too, I've played with some of them for 12-14 years & they know my wife, I went to their wedding, they know my brothers (one works with one of a brother of mine now), my aunt, etc...
Still see a few of the old drinking buddies, a couple I've known since elementary school, now 35 years ago. In fact I should see them the weekend after the Presi-Traverse. I only see them a couple of times between HS Reunions though. I made a mistake of dating & marrying a sister of the girls they were married too.
When everyone was happy, it was quite a clique, three sisters & one of their best friends married to two brothers & a very good friend of each brother. It was easier to see the guys very occasionally Vs. causing friction in their marriages although time (now 15 years) has healed some of that.
Now the people at work, they think I'm nuts but admire the commitment.
Of course I do find guys have different relationships with their friends than woman do. I'll tell you about how I feel about the Red Sox, the travesty currently known as the Bruins or my thoughts on the redundancy known as Corona Light but don't ask how I actually feel about getting older, my job, my life, etc... (PS I don't stop for directions either
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