Friends are like...

...sunshine, they warm your life.
...potatoes, if you eat them, they die.
...colored pencils, they help you complete the picture.
...four leaf clovers, hard to find and lucky to have.
...stars, you can't always see them, but you know they are always there
...snowflakes, each one is unique.

And I'm sure the list can go on and on.  The point is, friends are important.  The value of friendship has resulted in an endless collection of friendship jewelry, literature on how to make and keep friends, and decorative doodads for hanging on walls reminding you of everything friends are like.  Friends matter.

But as brilliant as all the quotes are, not one truly describes what my friends mean to me.  Analogies just aren't sufficient for including all the detail.  At least, no analogy I can think of.  This is what my friends are like, and if you can think of an analogy, feel free to comment.

Friends aren't like, they just are...
...those people who will stay up till 4 am with me just to watch Doctor Who.
...individuals who realize that star-less nights are stormy, so they make sure they can still be seen when the clouds roll in.
...those who know me well enough to know that Filipino food makes me forget all my problems.
...people who laugh at my physics jokes, either because they have no idea what I said and are just humoring me, or because they understood it perfectly and it really was that funny. (spherical trig is like a piece of a jaw-breaker).
...those who ask how my day is and then really listen to the answer.