By Rhonda Whetstone Neibauer

   Have you heard the old saying “It is not what you know but who you know?”

   I know what the person who coined the phrase was trying to say is that connections to important people are what it is all about. Well, I guess if you are running for a political office, or trying to make it big in Hollywood, that very well might be the case, but for most of us, what is important are the friends we surround ourselves with.

   If we are smart, when we cultivate friendships, we will look for people with similar interests, so we always have a lot in common to bond over, but yet be sure they are also different enough from us to allow for creative discussions and learning new things.

   Another old saying is that “You can pick your friends but not your family.” While that is true also, it is often we find our “best” friends from within our own families. Children, parents, cousins and siblings can all turn out to be your BFF—Best Friend Forever. This is probably due to the fact you both have the same background and have known each other a lifetime—through the good and the bad. This is why so many married couples say their spouse is their best friend. They have been through a lot together. Sometimes this is the deepest bonding, and then it is almost like a double friendship, the best of both worlds . . . family and friend.

   There is a special bond that friends have that goes beyond your basic family though. When family calls for help, many times our response is out of obligation rather than love. With a true friend—it is always the love that comes through.

   The best thing about having one true friend is that they know all about you, understand what you have come through, share the same hopes and dreams as you do for your future, and yet no matter what, they accept you just for who you are, and at all times.

   For most of us, as you can see, it really is “who you know.” It is the friendships you form, the people you let into your life—for no other reason than the fact you like them, that makes love wonderful.

   Tennessee Williams, American playwright (1911-1983) summed it up well when he said “Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.” Choose wisely.