Finding Great Friends is Like Dating
You’ll have to go through many before you find “the ones”
Throughout my life, I’ve always had a couple of emotionally deep, close friends at any given time. Upon moving to Europe in 2013, I blossomed, found more confidence, and cultivated a slightly wider circle of awesome friends.
During four years of living there, I had around eight emotionally deep, supportive, fun friendships. I felt as though I could confide in each of them, and it seemed they felt generally the same about me. I met with every one of them weekly, at a cafe for tea and coffee, to go to the gym, to stroll the city, to take a day trip elsewhere in Germany, to wander a museum or have a picnic, you name it.
I was friends with both men and women from a variety of places and cultures. They were American, French, German, Indian, Persian, Czech, and English. Some were my age. A few of them were five to eight years younger. One was several years older than me, and another was some decades older. I loved this. Having such a diverse group of friends was fascinating, enriching, and so fun.
Since returning from Europe (about four years ago now), I have reconnected with the close friends I left here. A man in New Hampshire with whom I’ve been good friends since we were sixteen. A woman who is a couple of…
