An abiding love
"Of course, things are not always so clear cut. Sometimes, friends do become family and that can be beautiful - to have a choice become a necessity. This often happens with old friends - there’s no longer that immediacy of vitality but there is something else there, an abiding love.
Other times, a friend may be feeling shitty but I can try to make him feel better so that I can get him back to his vital, witty, zestful self. Which is to say, the condition of love for my friends is different than the condition of love for my family. With family, I’m just “there for them.” With friends, I’m there for them, too - but so they can get back to the on-going negotiation, that mutual fueling and enlivening."
- http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/family-and-friends/
Other times, a friend may be feeling shitty but I can try to make him feel better so that I can get him back to his vital, witty, zestful self. Which is to say, the condition of love for my friends is different than the condition of love for my family. With family, I’m just “there for them.” With friends, I’m there for them, too - but so they can get back to the on-going negotiation, that mutual fueling and enlivening."
- http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/family-and-friends/