I've always been fascinated by friendship, especially why certain people become friends. What is it that draws people together into that relationship?
Obviously, proximity has something to do with it. When you are in school together or work together all the time, you have a better chance of developing those bonds of friendship. Conversely, I have a lot of friends who I don't live near now, so our friendship is kind of on pause. That happens with some of my great friends from college and even former students who have graduated and moved away. If we ever moved back closer to each other we would no doubt resume our friendship, but for now the friendship is kind of stuck at a certain level and unlikely to get deeper.
Another factor is shared interests. There are a lot of people whose company I enjoy, but we don't really share any hobbies or pastimes. For example, I don't hunt or fish, and for a lot of people that is their main avocation. On the other hand, I know people who enjoy some of the things I do (science fiction, books, tv, movies, etc.) but our personalities don't really mesh. Maybe it's their sense of humor (or lack thereof), or some other character quirk. So there is that kind of unquantifiable personality factor to consider.
It gets complexified when you are married, as well. It's hard to find other couples that you both enjoy. Often you will really connect with one but not the other.
It's the rare when you find another person that you really connect with and enjoy being around. The person you can talk with for a long time, but you never seem to run out of things to talk about. You enjoy doing some of the same things together and you challenge each other to be better people. You spend time with them, and when you leave you can't wait to get together again.
When you do find a person like that, it's a gift to be celebrated and cherished.
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