Franss wrote:
I think most important... A friend is somebody you can rely on in every situation and for whom you are present as well. You don't necessarily need to be in touch every day. You know they'll always be there!
This definition changes my original answer a bit. I DO have a few people in my life that I feel I could rely on, and they KNOW they can me. The problem is that I'm terrible about keeping in touch with them. I don't like calling people on the phone just to chat, but will only if I have something specific to say. And I rarely have anything that I feel warrants a call. They might disagree with me, and believe that any contact is better than none. But then again, they don't stay in touch with me either. But I know that if I really needed any of them, they'd be there in a flash.