FRIENDSHIP "the most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend".

IT IS A PECULIAR and almost banal observation that we can be separated from a friend for a long time and pick up where we left off. This is not always true of a lover a relationship that seems to be more delicate and needs more nurturing. Why is this? Does the close intimacy needed for love preclude the sturdy surety of friendship? Maybe so. But more certainly the needs and expectancies of lovers are different from those of friends. My friend will give me what I need, especially his presence and support. I don't ask from him, nor do I need the semiobsessional gifts that I might ask from a lover.