I've realised and would like to acknowledge that my first few lines are very similar to those in Darren Hanlon's song (There's Just Not Enough Songs About) Squash, from his album Little Chills:

Why do I bother
I don't know
I'll turn off my radio
Day after day
The airways are awash
With songs of ones in love
And those who are out of...

The airwaves are saturated
with songs of love
love lost, love found
love that sounds a lot like lust.

The heart shouts
it is heard
and the chorus is repeated
reverberating throughout the nations.

But what of songs of friendships?
what of the platonic and the magnificent?

A bond that is shared over a lifetime
in the peaks, plateaus and troughs
spanding decades, distance and desires.

loyalty lost
forgiveness
loyalty re-found

a knowing smile
a familiar voice
an inside joke
an ardent burst of laughter
a listening ear
an honest word
a heartfelt text conversation

these moments
these people
these bonds

bring me to life

and because of them

I am incredibly thankful
and tremendously blessed.