I am posting a series of questions - all the same. There are no
correct or incomplete anwers.

Q1.) Define 'best friend' in your own terms.

Q2.) Find me 3 distinct online resources/articles about friendship.
Any 3 - so long as they are not already provided as answers to copies
of this question.

This is preliminary research for a project I am working on. The
important factor right now is the diversity of answers, thus the
multiple postings of the same question.

- SgtCory

Greetings SgtCory,

In my definition, a true best friend is a twin soul, a person with
whom I feel totally at ease; one who accepts, supports, values and
celebrates my life efforts (and my quirks and idiosyncrasies) as I
accept, support, value and celebrate theirs. It is being "in love"
with a person sans any romantic cravings or romantic expectations.

I believe that best friend status is earned over a long period of
time, as opposed to a mere few months or a few years.  I think of
"best friend" as lasting friendship, and a best friendship (IMHO) must
thrive and endure for a long time to qualify for "best" status -
through thick and thin, through ups and down, through laughter and
tears.  A best friend is a life constant in one's heart.

I believe that many people misuse the term "best friend" when they
should actually use the term "best acquaintance" or simply "friend." 
I certainly have many acquaintances and friends, but there are three
people I consider "best friend" (not counting my dad, who also
qualifies as my blood-related best friend):

 1. Ms. L - We met when I was six months old and she was 1 year-old,
and we have remained best friends for 47 years.  We've come in and out
of each other's lives at different times, and we've experienced many
changes throughout our lives yet our friendship is a bond that remains
unbreakable.

 2. Ms. R - R and I met in college, and we often joke that we share a
brain. She lives "up east" and we speak on the phone on the average of
once a week for anywhere from 2 to 3 hours per call.  She is so often
a muse for my creativity (she's an enormously talented artist and
writer) and, because we share similar childhood emotional and family
experiences, we're bonded in both creativity and emotional growth.

 3. Mr. H - The love of my life and the male "best friend" of my BF
trio.  We met in the mid 1980s and I fell in love with him because of
his kindness and gentle nature.  Although I would happily spend the
rest of my life with him, I have no *need* for that to happen -- I
love him unconditionally and I desire *his* happiness, whatever that
entails.

To me, unconditional love is the quintessential ingredient for a best
friend.  Best friends are the family one chooses - and best friends
are tried-and-true champions for each other.  My best friends are 100%
comfortable with telling me their truths, and I am 100% comfortable
telling them mine - we know that there will be no judgment against the
other, only positive support toward whatever goals we seek.  Also, our
life experiences and personal growth compliment and parallel one
another's.

I have grown greatly as a human being because of their support and
love, and I can only hope they have similar experiences through my
support and love.


If any of the links I've provided below are repetitious of other
Researcher's answers, I'll continue my research for fresh ones so my
apologies if any or all of the ones provided have already been used in
another answer to this question:

Twin Soul, Tethered
http://www.mindspring.com/~jenw/comp/twin_soul.html

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (a story of best friends)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/6305212112/002-3941981-3023207?v=glance
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101921/

Driving Miss Daisy
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000087F7D/ref=pd_sim_dv_1/002-3941981-3023207?v=glance&s=dvd
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097239/

Stand By Me
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00003CXIP/qid=1105296911/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-3941981-3023207?v=glance&s=dvd
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092005/

My Best Friend's Wedding
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005JG6N/qid=1105297072/sr=2-1/002-3941981-3023207?v=glance&s=dvd
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119738/


Thank you for asking this question as it allowed me the opportunity to
celebrate my best friends.  :)

Best regards,
journalist-ga


SEARCH STRATEGY:

my "twin soul"
my "best friend"
my "bosom friend"
"best friends" stories
"close friend" stories

Films/books searched from memory by title

Great answer! Your links are perfect - and you are yet another
researcher to hit one of my 'personal favorites' in your answer. My
"Stand By Me" VHS tape needs to be replaced with the DVD ;-)  Thank
you very much - great stuff!

My dad had unusually stringent criteria for "friend." One of them was
a willingness to lend someone large sums of money without a written
note, but another example took the cake: when Dad lost an eye in his
early twenties, his doc came in his hospital room to inform him that
one of his friends had just come in and offered one of his eyes. When
the doc told him it was impossible to transplant an eye, his friend
wept and left.

Thank you, SgtCory, for your kind words and added generosity!  :)

Best regards,
journalist-ga

I am unable to access the link http://www.mindspring.com/~jenw/comp/twin_soul.html

There might be some problems with my proxy or firewall. Is it possible
that the article be prsented as a comment .

Ddhara-ga, here is a cached version of
http://www.mindspring.com/~jenw/comp/twin_soul.html

://www.google.com/search?q=cache:XoanQcEGOwsJ:www.mindspring.com/~jenw/comp/twin_soul.html+%22Twin+Soul%22+Tethered&hl=en

Thanks Fp-ga for providing the cache of the "Twin Soul, Tethered"
link.  The original was there the day I answered the question but
perhaps the site has since been down.

Best regards,
journalist-ga

fp/journalist,
  sorry to be a bother, but i am not able to access the original link
and neither the cached link as well. Help???

-ddhara

Sorry, ddhara-ga, but currently I cannot access the cached version.

However, the following message is displayed on
www.mindspring.com/~jenw/ (i.e. on the cached version):

"We're moving!
This site will disappear at the end of 2004.
For Jen's current whereabouts, please visit:
www.ravenwald.com "


To access the cached version of www.mindspring.com/~jenw/
go to 
://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22Welcome+to+Jen%22+mindspring
and click on "cached" (first result: "Welcome to Jen").

I'm still trying to find "Twin Soul, Tethered" on the new website.

You could ask Jennifer S. Willis how to find it:
http://www.ravenwald.com/jsw/index.shtml
http://www.ravenwald.com/write/index.shtml

Ddhara,  I've emailed Jen to ask if she will post the poem here (or
send me a copy and I will post it with her permission).  Meanwhile,
here's a link to it courtesy of the Wayback Machine:

http://web.archive.org/web/20040309123437/http://www.mindspring.com/~jenw/comp/twin_soul.html

Best regards,
journalist-ga

Greetings to all interested in Twin Soul, Tethered:

I have received a reply from Jen stating that her poem is currently
available for view at http://www.ravenwald.com/write/twinsoul.shtml

Jen has also authored a book about twin souls titled Twin Souls:
Rhythm.  You may view info on it at http://www.ravenwald.com/press/

Best regards and happy reading!
journalist-ga