Friday Five: Friends

Jan picks the topic of friends for this week's Friday Five and we are to: write about the different kinds of friends we have, like childhood friends, lost friends, tennis friends, work friends, and the list goes on. List 5 different types of friends you have had in your life and what they were/are like.

Alrighty! Here are my 5 types of friends:

1. Friends who also happen to be family. Over the years this has included my grandmother, my mother, my cousin, and -- in a delightful bonus -- Offsprings #1&2. Of course I am also including Hubby in this category. We met in optometry school over 30 years ago and have been partners (including at work!) ever since. Here's a photo of my family from a 2006 vacation:



2. "Through thick and thin friends". This category is small in number but very big in importance. These are the friends who have been with me through whatever tough stuff life has thrown my way.

3. School and/or Work Friends. These friendships, although more superficial than those in category 2, have added richly to the tapestry of my life (sorry, the Carole King song was running through my mind as I was typing).

4. Animal friends. Ahhh, it all started with Katze, my cat of childhood. Animals make great friends! Here's my "newest" animal friend, Mr. Tumnus (Offspring #2's amazingly cute cat):



5. Cyberfriends. This is, of course, a relatively new category! There are a couple of old school friends (from elementary and high school) I've reconnected with via facebook, and some new friends I've made with blogging.