Friendship has become a word that is lightly bandied around.  Connected on twitter?  Friend.  Added on Facebook?  Definitely a friend.  Someone you have coffee with once in a blue moon?  Well then, of course they’re a friend.

As I get older, though, I find that word much more precious and use it more selectively.

Friends are those people who take the time to understand who I am.  This isn’t something that happens in one conversation, or even 10.  There are people who have known me for years, and yet really don’t know a thing about me.

Oh sure, lots of people think they know me.  But those are the people who scratch the surface of who I am and are content to leave it at that.

And I can’t say I fault them for that.

I am an intense personality.

I live my life with purpose.

I am passionate about the things I believe in and the people I care about.

I am direct in my thoughts, words, deeds.

All that can be a lot for people to take in.  Intimidating, even.

So, for them, there is ‘JennLite’.  The happy-go-lucky, no cares, no worries, superficial version of me.

But is that me?  No.

And if that’s the me you know?

Then you don’t know me at all.