I was a grown-up person before I realized it was okay to say I love you to someone who was not a spouse or a family member. Some people think this is weird, that love only has to do with blood or romance. It doesn't.

Acceptance is an important factor, because people are all different. I talk a lot, one of my friends doesn't. He moved a couple of years ago so we mostly communicate by e-mail now. And there have been times when I got really frustrated because I thought he had forgotten me - only because he isn't as chatty as me. Then it occurred to me - hey, you big dummy, he's always been there, in his own way, even if it wasn't exactly the way YOU wanted.

So if we want our friends to accept us, we have to do the same for them. Sometimes it's hard!

I have come to realize, though, that your true friends are always your friends, no matter how far away they get, no matter how much time passes.