My friend Josh.

Friendship is something that I take very seriously. Probably, as my wife and I have discussed recently, too seriously. Sometimes I get my feelings hurt when I want to be friends with somebody more than they want to be friends with me or when I choose to invest in a friendship and there isn't much reciprocation. I guess we've all been there. I certainly have.

It's hard, particularly, for guys. Men don't tend to make new friends. Rather we have friends from early in our life and as we grow apart we end up being alone. Many of us are fortunate enough to have great wives like I am. But it's not the same. As a man you need a guy or two that you can really count on. I can really count on my friend Josh. Here's why.

Josh has been there with me since "the beginning". He was there for me when I didn't really know how to be a good friend. He let me make mistakes and we looked to each other for guidance and friendship when we were both young men trying to find the right path to go down towards manhood.

Josh tells me what I need to hear not what I want to hear. This is what makes Josh "valuable" to me. Listen to me carefully here. When I need to be told to sit down and shut up he tells me. When I need to be told to quit doing something he tells me. When I need to be told my thinking is wrong he tells me. When I need reassurance I'm on the right track in times of doubt he tells me that too. He doesn't apologize for disagreeing with me and he doesn't sugar coat anything to save my feelings. We don't have time for that. Neither one of us do. We are accountable to each other and while it's not all about being valuable to people I don't think you can discount how important it is that you shoot straight with your friends.

Josh is there for the important times and I'm there for him too. Whether it's a funeral or a wedding, a birthday or a bbq. Josh and I are there for each other. We've fished some great afternoons and we've sat by a campfire and laughed our heads off. We've smoked a cigar (or two) during times like when my son was born and toasted to his beautiful wife at his wedding. We've been to (not enough) Braves games and he's been there when my kids were born to hold them and to hug me too. I only hope he appreciates having me there as much as I enjoy and appreciate his presence in the special moments in my life. I'm sure he does.

It's Josh's birthday today. I wanted to just take a minute to let you all know how I feel about Josh. Many of you feel the same way about him as I do. Let's celebrate Josh and the friendship that he has shown all of us.



Scott