A Thought

Recently I have found myself thinking about my friends. I am very careful before I'll call someone my friend, doubly so before I'd call them a good friend.
But, lately, I think I've got a few.
There are whole groups that I no longer speak to. This is mostly my own doing, and while I do regret it at times, I think it is what was healthiest for me at the time (or now).
And then there are the friends I've known since I was a teenager - one since I was 11. And while we don't see each other often or sometimes even talk all the frequently, I know that these people would be there for me in a moment of crisis or just when I'd really really need a friend.
There are the occasional person I've picked up along the way, a friend from my old company in LA, someone I lived a few floors away from during a crazy time in New York...
Now, I have a small group of friends from my job. Bound by a love/hate relationship for our employer, we have discovered that we share more than that, if only a love of 80' music and grilled meats.
Usually I'm a pessimist, seeing the worst in the world and in people in general. But every so often, I can look out through clear - not dark or rose colored - glasses and take stock in some of the good that is actually out there. And yes, some of that good are my friends.