If you are in the winter quarter of life as I am, you are blessed to have friends. The older you get, the more friends have gone to their reward. You might be blessed to have 5 friends left.

There are friends and there is family. Occasionally friends become family. I grew up with 10 brothers and sisters but we rarely see one another because we live all over. Thanks to covid-19, we have missed at least 2 weddings.

Best friends are like the pineapples my buddy Dr. Ken Meyers grows in his yard and wonderful avocados Craig Lynch gives me.

They are spokes in my friendship wheel due to our mutual connection in Toastmasters Club 1841 in Kissimmee, FL.

IN MY HYBRID retirement, I work, write, deliver speeches and conduct my life insurance practice on a limited schedule. I am exposed to fewer people thanks to this transition and the virus.

My buddies see me as a good egg slightly cracked on my best day. If you are lucky enough to have some of these jewels in your life, reward them with gifts while they are alive and appreciate your relationship.

Best friends help you to smile when you are not up to it that day. They check up on you to make sure you are okay. Keep them close and never take them for granted.

Best buds are hard to find and harder to keep. What you bring to their relationship is far more important that what they bring and that is the key that sustains it.

Good friends can talk for hours, say little and still understand your state of mind. In some ways, they keep disturbing you to help you cope with the daily stress of politics and covid-19 and you name it.

That is what friends are for… so says the song. They bring out the best in you. They are there for you not because of longevity but at times despite it. They burst into your life and say, “I am here for you.” Others will abandon you when you need them most.

Look at the footprints that surround your life. They are the witnesses to your presence on earth. Many times, they are willing participants in your victories and setbacks. You can always spot their footprints because true friends are always walking close by.

The best friends cling so long they cannot remember who has a good or bad impact on the other. They know you and still love you because you are important to them.

They make the bad times easier and the good times even better because they make your riches and challenges their own to help you. Some would even add… “the best cure for a horrible day is a good friend.” That’s what friends are for.

Michael Aun is recipient of the George Morrisey Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Speakers Association – Central Florida Chapter.