My daughter gave me an app for my birthday--a question a week for the next year. I felt this question was something I could share on my blog. Years ago I came across a short explanation that fit perfectly what I wanted in a friend: “Oh, the comfort — the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person — having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.” (Dinah Maria Mulock Craik, A Life For A Life) I had some bad experiences when I was quite young with so-called friends who turned on me, who suddenly stopped being my friends, either when someone more interesting came along or because I said something they didn’t like and they suddenly decided they didn’t want to be my friend anymore. It hurt. It would have been great if, as a result, I had developed healthy boundaries,