How many people do you have in your life that you consider to be good friends?

The best friends I have are the ones I trust the most, and who are most honest with me.

Three.

One

About eight I think. Oh, maybe more like twelve.

I have had quite a few close friends in my life and in time we separated with marriages,career choices,moving to new City etc
They were very close and fit the time for when we were friends bu we all move on and grow and find others as well. I appreciated them and think of them periodically.
My Pen pal is steadfast and consistent in writing first hand written letters , then emails etc

She is still present and we have a long history of writing since we were only 14 years of age, and we know each other well, but have never met and never talked together since she speaks another language and I only speak/write English.
I have kept all her letters,photographs over the years but sadly she did not?
No problem not everyone is sentimental.

@Inspired_2write So, how many ?

I just did a quick count and I have about 10 people, including my best friend who fit the description. I consider myself to be extremely lucky in the friend department.

4

None.

Five, plus one I’ve been in conflict with and two sisters who are definitely friends. So I usually count eight.

Based on your definition, zero.

For me, it’s 5.

@cookieman: If you have another definition of what a good friend is, feel free to go by that. You have nobody in your life you consider a good friend?

I think 4. I say I think, because one is fairly new, but she is a wonderful person and incredibly caring and nurturing to the people in her life who have needed help.

Actually, one of the long time friends I’m not sure. She knows everything about me, but she is so entrenched in her life where she lives that we don’t communicate as much as I would like, and she seems a little “different” than me. I can’t explain it, just a feeling.

About 10.

@jca2: I do. My wife is my best friend based on your definition — which I agree with.

I have other friends (3–4), but they fall apart when we get to, “if you needed something, you could depend on them to try to help you out.”

Two, three.

If I put out a call for help, half my town would show up, but thats how we roll here.
For me a better question is how many people actually know me and get invited over…which is around 10 or so.

I guess I think of “needing something” in a very extreme way. Like stay with them for two months, or have them fly in if I’m very ill, or lend me money, or listen to me cry for three hours when something awful happens. I have many more friends and neighbors who would do all sorts of things to help me out. People who pick up my mail and flush my toilets when I’m traveling, they would visit if I was in the hospital here, they drop my house just to hang out for out, they would rush in and be supportive if something devastating happened. These are people who call or text me to get together to go dancing or to some activity here. That circle is more like 15 people, with 6 of them being the most active, meaning I see them almost every week, some it’s more like 3 times a week.

Six. I thought about it a bit and I’m convinced I can ask for anything if I needed it.
And vice versa.

4

15

I have one who c9mes with a whole family that would help me in any circumstance, as I would them (so, maybe 4 or 5 from that group) and a couple of others. Two others have died in recent years.

I also have a very dear friend In England. Not sure that counts though. If I really needed something not sure there is much he could do.

None.

One for sure, perhaps a couple others.

4 for me, and 2 more that are runners up.

2 I would like to think 3 but 2 definitely .

How many do I have? Not enough.

@All You got plenty here, for what its worth. Online is still RL.

@KNOWITALL It’s not. It’s a derivative of it. What we write and say here is real but the mental images that we have of each other is mostly wrong. The persona that most here project is not the way we would see them in a physical setting. What we experience here is mostly in our heads.

Ok I have to remove one from my list. I just remembered this story: I was having a basil cell carcinoma removed from my head. She told me if I needed anything, anything at all to let her know. After the surgery the doctor said I could take Tylenol for pain. I knew I didn’t have any. My hair was matted with blood and Vaseline. I called my friend to ask her to get it for me. I would even pick her up to run in the store. She couldn’t because she hadn’t taken a shower yet!
So she’s off the best friends list.

@KNOWITALL, that’s a lovely thought but reality is a bit different. How would I contact you if I needed a ride to the ER? Can I stay at your house while work is being done on mine? And so on.