The older I get, the more I realize how little I know about what friendship means. When I was a kid, I had a group of friends and we did everything together. We all walked to and from school together, played sports after school together, went to each other’s birthday parties and had sleepovers at each other’s houses. We were such a close-knit group. My best friend, Glenn, lived one door down, and his birthday was the day after mine. We were inseparable. Or so we thought.

When my life collapsed and I had nowhere to go, guess who was the first to offer to let me live in his house with his family?

After 6th grade, there were rumors that our little town would be subject to forced busing to an inner-city junior high school. I was moved to a private school and my friends were not. Although we still saw each other around, our friendship was never the same.

Years later, many of us, including Glenn, still lived near each other, but we were married with our own kids, and were no longer close. I had a new group of friends, one of whom turned out to be fucking my wife. When my life collapsed and I had nowhere to go, guess who was the first to offer to let me live in his house with his family until I could go to my own place? My old best friend Glenn. I lived with them for six months before I got my bearings, and we are as close now as we ever were. Thanks to him, I think I am learning what true friendship is all about.