Augustine on Friendship

"All kinds of things rejoiced my soul in their company-to talk and laugh and do each other kindnesses; read pleasant books together, pass from lightest jesting to talk of the deepest things and back again; differ without rancour, as a man might differ with himself, and when most rarely dissension arose find our normal agreement all the sweeter for it; teach each other or learn from each other; be impatient for the return of the absent, and welcome them with joy on their homecoming; these and such like things, proceeding from our hearts as we gave affection and received it back, and shown by face, by voice, by the eyes, and a thousand other pleasing ways, kindled a flame which fused our very soul and many made us one. This is what men value in friends..." (62-63).

After finishing our first semester at college and first time away from one another since kindergarten, my friends and I reunited for winter break a little apprehensively. We all wondered how college would change us. We anticipated that we would grow apart and make new friends; everyone says the friends you make in college are the friends you keep for life. So what does that mean for our hometown friends? After four months, my friends and I reunited like no time had passed. We actually laughed. Why would college change anything? Friendship is more than just circumstantial; it is a common bond and special gift.

Augustine recognizes the magnitude of friendship. At this point in my life I am realizing how much my friends from home mean to me and that I can make new friends in college as well. Life is about the relationships you make with the people around you. Friends are like family that you get to choose.