observation
...n friends for years. The whole night was filed with jokes, laughter and playful bantering as we learned each others strengths and weaknesses, and joked about them. Our friendship quickly grew and soon we were inseparable. Dan and his family had never really got along and soon he told me that he considered me “family”.We were only friends for a short time but we seemed to know each other inside out. At the time I considered both of these people my best friend, Dan was my “best male friend” and Jen my “best female friend”. Up until a week before my surgery date I was still trying to decide who I would ask to live with me for the months after my surgery. I had talked to both of them about the situation and both were willing to help. Jen had told me that she would help- but that she expected me to pay all her expenses for the duration of her stay. Dan had told me that he would also be willing to help me out because he would be leaving in a few months for Marine bootcamp and he felt it would be nice for us to be able to spend as much time as possible together before he left. He also said if he was going to be living at my house he would at least pay for his personal expenses such as food and gas. I was more comfortable personally with Jen staying because she was also female and I had never lived with a male before. One week before my surgery date I went for the usual pre-surgery blood tests. The doctor called me the next day to let me know some of the tests had come back abnormal and I needed to come in to talk about them. I went into the doctors office basically calm, after all I was sure I was a pretty healthy 22 year old, right? At least that was what I thought until he told me that my high blood cell count indicated I might either have AIDS or cancer!! I was told I had to go to a specialist to find out what exactly was wrong. Dan went with me to the specialist, for moral support. As we talked while we waited to see the doctor I learned what I think is one of the most important lessons about real friendship. He told me that earlier that day he had gone to his Marine recruiter and explained my situation and that if I turned out to have anything wrong with me he would not be going to the Marines. Dan explained to me that if anything was wrong with me he felt he could not live with himself if he was overseas while I may be suffering over here. He also felt that he was the only person who knew me well enough to take care of me if I fell very sick. Dan had told me many times in the months before that if he went to the marines he would receive $70,000 to use towards college. This was very important to him because he wanted to go to school for engineering but he really could not afford to go to a good school on his own. If he enli...