WANTED- New Best Friend- LOCATION: Memphis. The previous person who held this position was smart, and funny and a beautiful women inside and out. We laughed, we cried, she held me accountable. We shared a hatred for relationships that are needy or filled with drama. We both value quality above quantity when it comes to friends, and made time of each other even at our busiest times. We saw each other for who we are and loved each other anyway. She is the wife, mom and professional women I want to be when I grow up. All applicants must have the above characteristics plus PROMISE NEVER TO MOVE.

This was posted on Facebook by one of my dearest friends. It overwhelms me because she captured so well the essence of why we “clicked.” This past year has been tumultuous in the area of personal and professional relationships. As we were packing this past week, my mind tended to play out the sad moments with relationships that have been severed.

But I should have spent every moment thinking about relationships that I valued with people who valued me-warts and all. The people who love you will stand by your side and will stand up for you when you’re being attacked. Watch out though because they may also be the very ones doing the attacking…but they’ll do it in love and will hug you afterwards and give you a cup of coffee.

I pray that I find other women in my new community who will embrace this kind of friendship. Now that I have experienced it, I am going to be intense in my search for meaningful relationships. I will not settle for superficial, and sorry, but I will not settle for friends who cannot handle conflict and confrontation.

So I guess my ad would have key words like “candor,” “confrontation,” and “coffee.”

I know. I bet I just have women lining up down the street to be my friend, but as my friend stated so well. It’s about quality versus quantity.