The Friends Thou Hast…

The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel. These are the words of Polonius in Hamlet Act I, Scene III, along with other pithy words of wisdom.

I thought of this verse while I was reading an obituary of Charles T. Munger, who passed away November 28, 2023, at age 99, one month short of his 100th Birthday. The obit talked about his long and dear over 60-year friendship with Warren Buffett. Charlie was vice chairman to Warren’s chairmanship of Berkshire Hathaway, likely one of the most, if not the most, successful investor organization of all time. Their friendship indicated to me the value of good friends. I have been blessed to have some very close and dear friends, and while I almost daily realize the importance and value to me, reading about Munger and Buffett highlighted my good fortune. I also recalled some other publicized friendships.

Buffett also has well-known friendships with both Bill and Melinda Gates and some others that have been periodically reported about. I also thought of a book I read by Gary Ginsberg named First Friends / The Powerful, unsung (and Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents about the close friendships 10 past United States presidents had. It also evoked the fictional friendships I like reading about of Stone Barrington and Dino Bacchetti and also Stone with Teddy Fay and Holly Barker, all characters created by Stuart Woods, and the Shawshank Redemption movie friendship of the characters played by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. The author of the original short story the movie was based on is the great storyteller Stephen King.

Dear friends are hard to come by, but when you have them, they create unbending bonds through all sorts of life’s blows. Sharing happy occasions with people you care deeply about is really great, but when a misfortune occurs, the true BFFs (Best Friends Forever) are among the greatest relationships you could have.

For my younger readers, seek out sincere friendships and work to make them BFFs. For my older readers, tell your BFFs how much you appreciate what they have done for you, and how much you appreciate what they permitted you to do for them. And if you are doubly blessed to have your spouse as your BFF, then get up right now and give them a special hug. That is what I am going to do right now.