Friends?

What does friendship mean? Where does it start – where does it end?
What are the parameters that make a friend a friend and not an acquiantance?
Is it time?
One of my best friends – Terence, a 60 year old ironman competitor, Maori and one of the happiest people I have met, offered me to call him if I ever needed help. I took him up on the offer because I knew he was sincere. I ended up staying for three or four weeks in which we went hiking, running and biking, we talked, we cooked we ate and we spent time with others. He participated in the goat (crazy man) and I supported him.
We had a blast. I came back for something like two months. We climbed up and around mountains, went on roadtrips, shared great meals, stories and many laughs. I got to know probably a quarter of his family (which means around 20 people). Since I left the land of the long white cloud 7 years ago, we have spent around 10 days together in which we walked through Rostock, biked to the Münster in Bad Doberan, along the baltic sea coast, through the iconic Warnemünde Beach (covered on the movie poster of the world famous movie Shutter Island (uncredited)), met my parents, discovered Schwerin and the second best castle of Germany (quote Terence), travelled through Berlin, biked through Potsdam, conquered our fears at the naked beach at the Holy lake and enjoyed a serene afternoon at the Havel, listening to my interpretation of Bo Burnhams Poems.

I say friendship can be there in an instant. Time isn’t a determining factor for friendship. Sure it grows over time but where you jump in on the scale, is open.
What makes a friend a friend is love – liking each other for who we are, acceptance and I guess some willingness to give and share.

Terence was always 100% in, trusting before he even met me. He told me where to find the key if I get to his place before him. He offered everything and gave so much more, without expecting.