Best Friend

I have a best friend. cliched I know but he is. For those of you saying "oh your wife is your best friend", that's crap. My wife is my wife for a very good reason, we have a husband and wife relationship, not a best friend one.
You will recall as a youngster, I moved from Sydney to Goulburn. In preparation for the move, mum and dad sussed out a camping spot within reach of our upcoming address. It was a small coastal town of Broulee in NSW. We had a big tent and folding chairs and all the camping guff and set up. There was a tent next to ours with a family from Canberra. They had 2 boys at the time and Steve the younger one, and I struck up a friendship that summer. I was 6 he was 7.
We henceforth moved to Goulburn and returned to the same camping ground the following year. In the tent next to us was a family from Canberra. yep. same one. We played again for the summer break and our parents got on well too. Red wine being the common denominator I think upon reflection. We did our WA trip and the caravan came to its final resting place at the same camp ground. They got an onsite van too. For the next 10 or 11 years, we spent every holiday, long weekend and some other weekends playing somewhere between those 2 vans or in the sand dunes across the road. Steve and I were inseparable whilst on holidays but once we returned to our home lives, really didn't have much contact until the next time we were in Broulee. It never phased us at all. We picked up where we left off as if time was irrelevant. I got drunk with him the first time on a NYE beside a bonfire on the beach. We would often find 2 girls to pair up with and hard as it is to say, he always got the prettier one. On one night I recall we were too 'young' for the main bonfire with the older teenagers so had our own up above in the dunes. When we were leaving, the urge to piss on the fire was of course irresistible. The column of pee steam rose silently from the ashes of our doused fire, was caught by the prevailing night breeze and as the moonlight over the ocean highlighted the older teens cuddling next to their fire, our cloud descended upon them as if laser guided. I recall the screaming and retching even today.
As the years passed, we finished school, started work, attended university and married and had kids, we were always just there. There may have been periods where we didn't speak for 6 or 9 months but if ever one of us felt under threat, in need or just have a chat, we were always there for each other. We were best men at each others weddings, I had a few calls over the years to rescue him from some situation or another and he has always been there to listen to me. Whether it be girl trouble, parent, work, uni, or whatever, he is my constant. There is nothing I can't tell him nor him me. There is no one on the planet that knows more about me than he. Its often difficult for others, specially men, to understand our bond. We openly hug and have such affection it brings tears to my eyes even as I write this. Adulthood takes its toll on friendships though, competing priorities, families and work all conspire to keep us apart most of the time. It's no lie that as I typed this, he emailed me to catch up for lunch. A massive coincidence that as I felt the need to write for him, he emailed me. I am not surprised though, that is just how we are. I haven't seen him for months and we work only 500 mtrs from each other. Others would look at us and question my definition of a best friend but its what's in the heart that counts. I love that man more than I could ever describe and I know he feels the same way. I do crave more of his time I admit that but he is now a busy and important partner in an accounting firm he's the biggest bigwig I know now!
We had lunch today. It was nice. We both know more than we did yesterday and as we shook hands and said our goodbyes, I hugged him then held him by the shoulders, looked into his eyes and said  "I love you man". He said the same. He was capable of accepting that from me. That's what a best friend does.