There is a difference between a friend and a good friend. A friend is someone who you get along with.. someone you can go out and have fun with.. a good person to call on a Friday night. A GOOD friend is more than that. A good friend is someone you confide in.. someone you trust to look out for your best interests and be honest with you.. someone you love. Friends are great to have, but at the end of the day, friends come and go with little impact on your life. If/when you lose a GOOD friend, however, your life is changed forever. There is a void that cannot be filled, a presence in your life that cannot be replaced. Right now I am worried that I may lose a very good friend.
I’m not going to name names and air anyone’s dirty laundry.. those of you who know me personally probably know who I am talking about anyway.. but a very good friend of mine is fighting for his life right now, and I’m scared.
This is someone who I knew was struggling to control his demons.. I have been watching for months (arguably years) as my friend gradually self-destructed, pretending that everything was going to be okay and that he would work out his own issues. But it doesn’t work that way. Instead of taking action, I made excuses for him. Instead of making him responsible for his own actions, I protected him and made apologies on his behalf. Instead of telling him flat-out that he had a problem, I went to the bar to drink with him every weekend. And like I feared, something terrible happened.. and I can’t help but feel partially responsible.
For anybody who is reading this… if you see a loved one who needs your help, you have to take action. Don’t sit back and let tragedy befall your friend/family member before you realize that you should have done something more. It is very hard to tell someone you love that they have a problem and they need help. Usually that person won’t listen anyway (trust me, I’ve been that person before). But it is our responsibility as GOOD friends to do whatever it takes to help that person before it’s too late. And with that being said, I apologize to this person for only being a friend, when a good friend is what he needed.
You are in my thoughts and prayers, buddy… I love you, and I hope you come out of this experience a better person, but right now I am just scared, and I don’t know what to do with myself.
Thanks for reading,
Tom
Tags: A, Friend, Letter, The TradeMark Experience, To
