The Fun Bunch vs. The Kings of Brookwood....

A very wise man once told me, "Aquaintances are a dime a dozen, but true friends are very rare....and if you can count the number of true friends you have on one hand, and fill up the hand, you are a very lucky person, indeed."  If you think about it, and think really hard, you have to agree he may very well be right.  Twice in my life, I was fortunate enough to be in a group of four people who would basically die for each other.
 
The Fun Bunch, as we called ourselves, was my high school group.  Invincible, yet immature, we would spend hours playing video games, cruising the mall for chicks, eating thousands of calories a day of junk food/fast food, blowing things up, and generally being Beavis and Buttheads.  Sure we had our share of fights, but the unspoken understanding was that no matter how pissed off we were at each other, we'd still be there for each other whatever was needed....
 
College seems to be a major transition time in one's life, and mine was no exception.  As my proximity to the Fun Bunch waned, I soon developed a new group of close friends, who I like to refer to as the Kings of Brookwood, named after the rathole apartment complex we lived in as upperclassmen.  Like my Fun Bunch group, we shared similar interests, but they became focused a bit more on partying and surviving the college experience.  Ironically, we still found ourselves playing video games, cruising the mall for chicks, eating thousands...... but we added MUCH more beer consumption.  And again, no matter how pissed off we got at each other (even to this day), we still basically would be there for each other, whatever was needed.
 
The interesting thing is that when college finished, we all pretty much went in different directions and started completely different lives, like what happened with my high school group.  However, no matter how far apart we find ourselves, I still feel like I can count on any of these guys for anything.  That they will be there for me if I need them, and vice versa.  And I still even feel that way about my Fun Bunch boys, although I'm still really only close to one of the three these days.  Somehow, friendships forged in blood, sweat and tears seem to be friendships that can stand the test of time.  And I believe that TRUE friends can only become true friends through ALOT of trials and tribulations.   That all the "war stories" we tell represent links of a chain of friendship.  A bond of understanding and shared experiences that let us live our futures with hopes of holding onto a bit of the past.  I have the opportunity to add a few new "links" to my chain over the next two weeks, and I'm very much looking forward to every crazy minute...