One of my friends recently went through a not-so-good time, and it was really heartwarming to me to see our friends rally to be there for her – both physically and emotionally there. I felt really grateful to have such a great group of friends, and it made me really think about my views on friendship.

I have been lucky enough to have a group of people, some of whom I’ve known since elementary school, that I consider some of my closest friends. We don’t all necessarily live in the same city anymore, but we are there for each other without a doubt, in both the good times and the bad times.

I’ve also been lucky in that my friends don’t treat me any differently just because I’m in a wheelchair. I was talking to one of my friends the other day about how I don’t think that I was ever really bullied or teased as a kid about my wheelchair, and I think it’s partially because I had such a great group of friends who accepted me so readily!

I am not someone who has a ton of acquaintances. I think I probably take friendships more seriously than most – I really expect a lot of my friends, but I’m willing to give a lot, too. I think that having a few quality friendships is so much more important than quantity of friends. I’d much rather have a small number of friends who I know I can go to and count on for anything and everything, rather than a larger group of people I’m friendly with and can make plans with, but can’t necessarily count on.

Friendships like these – quality friendships – take real work. But the time and effort that you put it is more than worth it in having friends that you know you can count on no matter what.