Over the years the friendships I have formed may be fitted into one of three categories.  (Possibly four, if we include all those who do not fit into any of the other three.)

First are those those who, like passing nocturnal steamers, briefly illuminated my life and then disappeared from memory, save that an occasional mental tug may cause me to try to recall a moment of past pleasure in my association with another, but then is lost in a regretful or, sometimes miasmic, haze.

The second category comprises those friends who have remained beloved and loyal to life and memory, without whom much of the richness of my existence would have vanished.

Finally there are friends who made such a profound impact on me and various stages of my life that they have never left