A good friend is a rare and special thing, and a true friend even more so. Wherever you are in life, it’s nice to know that someone, somewhere out there has your back and always will.
Here, people recount how they realized they had a real friend in their life. If you have someone like that, share this list with them to let them know you appreciate them! And make sure to check out the sources at the bottom for even more friendly goodness.
1. Tag-team fight.
I lived with three other guys for most of college. We had a few people over for an after bar party and eventually it was that time of the night for everyone to pass out. There was this one really drunk guy who wouldn’t leave and wouldn’t go to sleep.
He kept banging around in the kitchen looking for more booze, breaking glasses, yelling into his phone, etc. My friend was in bed so I took it upon myself to see this guy out. He was being unreasonable and eventually we started arguing. He took a swing at me. Not one second later my roommate flies out of his room and form tackles the drunk guy. I knew then that he was a true friend.
way_fairer
2. Piggy-back besties.
My mate Henry gave me a piggyback home from a club when I fell on the dance floor and injured my ankle. We were poor students at the time, and despite having to blow on alcohol and post-inebriation junk food – we couldn’t stomach paying the extortionate taxi charges for that time of night. With no other avenue available to us, Henry offered to give me a piggyback – I clung to his back like a sloth, and we had a jolly old time on the way home. He’s still my best mate to this day and I love him dearly.
ariiiiigold
3. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
A true friend is someone who can tell you something you don’t want to hear but need to hear.
patefacio
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4. Friend’s are like a lifeboat.
Two days ago I saved my friends life. He tried to take his own life. I got a call from his ex girlfriend saying that her sister got a message on twitter saying that he loved his ex with “his last breath.” She was worried, and knowing I was his best friend, she asked me to check on him.
Upon calling him 9 times in a row with no answer. I began to worry a lot. Both his sister and mom were out of the house. I called a few friends that lived near him to see if they could go check him, but they were all working. I told my other friend to leave work and pick me up. I was scared. He left and we went to see him. We sped the whole way there, and I was already prepared to find my best friend dead. We got there at the house, I told my friend to stay behind a bit and I went in.
My friend was on his couch just on his laptop. I asked him if he was alright. That’s when he told me he tried to take his life that day. Immediately I told him to give me his phone and that I was calling the cops. He showed no resistance or plea for me to do otherwise. The officer showed up like 10 minutes after I called. We were talking between that time. No tears from me, I was in shock. I still am. He tried to OD. Which was both gut and heart wrenching. The officer had a paramedic show up and take him in to make sure he’s ok. I followed the ambulance up. Turns out at the ambulance loading bay at the hospital he seized and vomited. Luckily he didn’t capsize otherwise he would have been gone.
The ride to the hospital was hard. I had to call his mom, dad, sister, and close friends to tell them what happened. That was harder than anything i’ve ever done.
He’s ok today. He’s in therapy for a week at the hospital. Yesterday I shook hands with 6 doctors, 4 nurses, 2 parents, and a sister. They were treating me like I cured cancer. Calling me a guardian angel, hero, and one doc said quote “you brought Minnesota nice to a new level.”
I did what I thought anyone would do given the situation. He’s my best friend that i’ve ever had. I love him, he’s family. The stress and worry I have now is a small price to pay for what I did to help.
I think the whole “friend” thing goes beyond saying that you care. Until you show it, I just assume we get along as good acquaintances. You have to earn the title “Friend.”
BrbShowering
5. What’s yours is mine.
When they go ransack your fridge within the first 5 minutes of being in your house. That’s someone who’s a real friend.
main_enigma
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6. Farewell fair weather friends.
I found out who my real friends were when I broke my back and was almost paralyzed. I had just finished my position as vice president of my fraternity, had a girlfriend I loved and had all the friends in the world.
I had surgery and had a week long stay in a hospital that was literally 1 mile away from my campus/frat house. The only people in my frat to visit me were 2 alumnis, a few girls I met at those parties came to visit, a few old high school/ lifelong friends, my girlfriend and an ex of mine.
I’ll never forget exactly who came to visit, and i’ll never forget exactly who didn’t even bother to say get well soon.
When I NEEDED people the most, the people I needed came and the people I didn’t need didn’t come, thats how I see it.
Angel_RM125
7. Adventures in babysitting drunk friends.
My roommate (let’s call her Sarah) had a friend from high school (let’s call her Anna) visit her for a weekend. Sarah and Anna go out, Anna gets super drunk but Sarah doesn’t drink because she’s not feeling well. They come back to the room, Anna is trashed and being loud and silly. Sarah says she’s not feeling well at all and really needs to go to the hospital.
It’s about midnight on a Thursday. The buses and subways are no longer running. None of us have cars and we’re all too broke for a cab. So the three of us walk two miles to the ER (in February, in New England), me dragging Anna along and preventing her from running off. (Story continues…)
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We reach the ER and Sarah goes off to see the doctor. I spend 2 hours in the waiting room with Anna, keeping her entertained and relatively quiet. It turns out Sarah has busted her inner ear drum and needs medication ASAP. The only place to get this medication is at the only 24 hour pharmacy in the city. Which is 3 miles from our dorm.
Sarah says screw it and we walk the 2 miles back to the dorm, thankfully Anna is winding down by now. Anna promptly passes out when we return, but Sarah is in a ton of pain. I’m not going to let her go through the night like this, so I insist on getting her medicine.
A 6 mile round trip walk in below zero temperatures alone in the city later, I return to the dorm a little after 5 am and deliver Sarah her medicine. She takes it and the pain subsides enough for her to fall asleep. I take a crash nap before heading off to my 8 am exam.
Sarah has done a lot for me over the years, and I owed it to her to return the favour.
red_raconteur
8. Gummy-buddies.
Wandered around the Beijing airport for 2 hours looking for gummy worms or gummy bears or just anything to get my gummy fix, couldn’t find anything. Cut to some 20 hours later when I finally landed at home, my best friend met me at baggage claim with 2 arizona ice tea’s and a giant bag of gummy worms…I had not spoken to him since I left for China two weeks early. BROTHER JUST KNEW
bosoxroc127
9. Passing gas like pals.
In 8th grade, my friends and I came to a conclusion that girls cry and boys fart in front of friends, but girls fart and boys cry in front of true friends.
We did have a night where we all farted in front of each other but it was weird (and funny) and haven’t farted in front of each other since.
HImainland
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10. Good friends are hard to shake off.
As someone that has been through depression and has tried to burn every bridge down at some point during that low period. I think a measure of a true friend is someone that doesn’t give up on you even when you give up on yourself. They call you all the time, come over unannounced, and are just a pain in the ass constantly because they fear the worst when you are checked out on life.
straddlemonster
11. I’ve got friends in low places.
A drug dealer sold me morphine for 12 years, enabling a chronic addiction that lasted much of my life. He lived far below the poverty line and had serious medical issues, and selling half his MScontins every month helped him stay afloat. Gradually our relationship progressed from strictly business to a casual friendship. (Story continues…)
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When I finally decided to quit and told him so, he said “That’s great, I support you 100%!” and never tried to pressure me into buying from him ever again, even though his lifestyle took a major hit without the extra income. On a few occasions where I relapsed, he flat-out refused to sell to me. Both of us have since improved our lives significantly and remain incredibly good friends.
YourOldPalHoward
12. The family you choose.
My mom had cancer for a couple of years. During radiation, she would usually be bed ridden feeling sick. My two best friends would come over and immediately ask her if there was anything they could do to help her. She would always reply with a no. Regardless, by the time they left, the dishes, laundry, or some other chore was completed with nothing said and no complaints.
I really consider them family. One of them even comes to family gatherings. I guess that’s it: A real friend is someone you consider family.
MasoLOMO4L
13. Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
I have a little checklist that I use to gauge my level of friendship with somebody. In no particular order…
- They help you when you move to a new place.
- You can not speak for a long stretch and they won’t give you shit about not calling/texting.
- They pull you aside and prove your SO is cheating on you.
- They drop you off/pick you up from the airport.
- They loan you their car.
supergalactic
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14. How to be there for someone.
My father commited suicide on a Friday of a holiday weekend. I was the one the police informed (around 9pm or so). My grandmother lives a little over 2 hours away, and I didn’t think that I should tell her over phone if I could help it.
A friend of mine since 2nd grade drove with me the next day, we stayed for 30 minutes or so, and drove back. He talked about whatever I needed to talk about, and when I was crying he would keep quiet until I changed the subject.
He and I have talked about what our friendship means. The way I explain it to anyone who asks: If I came knocking on his door, told him to ‘get your gun we have something to take care of’ and looked his wife straight in the eyes and told her ‘we were here all night drinking’, and he wouldn’t question it for a second, that’s friendship. Plus a little bit of awesome crazy.
Love him so much.
fozzyp
15. Semper Fidelis
When I was in the Marine Corps my car broke down the night before I was going on leave. I called my friend at 9pm that night, asked him if he could come get me (we lived 7hrs from each other). The next day at noon. He came and picked me up. He had taken the day off work, borrowed his bosses trailer helped my load my broken ass car onto the trailer and drove back. 14hrs on the road pulling a trailer in one day, then when I tried to pay him he told me to put the money back in my pocket and fix my crappy car.
plSki
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16. Stuck on you like gum on my shoe.
I’ve noticed that only my best friends will wait for me to tie my shoe when walking with a group.
mwc11
17. I’d like to phone a friend Meredith.
Phone call while asleep in the middle of the night
He-hello…?
Hey bro. I need help. I just broke down.
What the heck dude it’s 3AM… are you serious?
Yeah man…
Okay drop me a pin. I’ll be there soon. Donkey-head.
NickDangerrr
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18. S-now problem friend.
I broke down in the middle of the White Mountains in January. It was pretty warm for January mind you, but I had my 70 year old grand ma with me. We we only a mile or so from a rest area which had a nice little wood stove, so all seemed O.K., still stuck but safe and warm. I didn’t even have to deliberate for a second as to what my next step was gonna be. It’s Sunday afternoon. I call my best friend, tell him the deal, I’m stuck with gram in New Hampshire, need to get to New York, he’s in Maine.
Calls back in 5 minutes, he has taken Monday off, and promptly got into his car, finds us drives all the way to upstate New York, grabs about 6 hours of sleep and then drives all the way back home alone. Gave him what loot I could for gas and such, but it probably covered less than half of what it cost him. He never says a word about it though, cause he didn’t come out there to save me because I had gas money. He came out there because that’s the kind of guy he is, and I try to be as much like him as I can everyday. We have several story like this between us, we are always there for each other without a question. When you feel like that about somebody and they treat you the same way, That’s when you’ll know theyre a true friend.
CriticalThrowaway
19. Friends in troubled times.
My dad once told me a story about a WWII concentration camp survivor he had met. The man told him that he and his wife had thought they had a lot of friends but when the nazis started rounding people up suddenly nobody knew them. He told my dad that for the rest of his life when he made a new friend he thought “Would they hide me?” A real friend would hide you.
spencerdog
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20. Blood is thicker than smoke.
One time when I was hanging out with my friends they were all smoking weed. They know that I don’t, and don’t want to, so on occasions such as this they usually blow it away from me. Everyones cool about it so it’s no big deal. One time, one of my friends brought his girlfriend and when she handed it to me I politely declined telling her that I don’t smoke. She said, “You don’t?” and then blew it in my face. My friend, the boyfriend, stood up and completely called her out on it and gave her a mini lecture. At that moment I knew he was a true brother.
valltherian
21. At the end of the day…
They stick with you through thick and thin, year after year. Even if you don’t see each other for a long time, when you do get together, it’s like you just saw each other yesterday.
Bronxie