Your Idea of a Good Friend

I got a chain letter today, but I actually enjoyed this one. But instead of forwarding this on and contributing to the spam we already get too much of, I'll just post an excerpt here (heavily edited to my liking). Oh, and you should read this to 8 of your friends within 1 hour or you'll be doomed with bad luck. Or not.

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In kindergarten, your idea of a good friend was the person who let you have the red crayon when all that was left was the ugly black one.
In grade 1, the person who went to the bathroom with you and held your hand as you walked through the scary halls.
In grade 2, the person who helped you stand up to the class bully.
In grade 3, he/she was the one who shared their lunch with you when you forgot yours on the bus.
In grade 4, he/she was willing to switch square dancing partners in gym so you wouldn't have to be stuck do-si-do-ing with Sweaty Pits or Clammy Palms.
In grade 5, he/she saved a seat on the back of the bus for you.
In grade 6, he/she went up to Nick or Susan (your new crush) and asked them to dance with you, so that if they said no you wouldn't have to be embarrassed.
In grade 7, he/she let you copy the social studies homework from the night before that you had forgotten.
In grade 8, he/she was the one who helped you pack up your stuffed animals and old baseball, but didn't laugh at you when you finished and broke out into tears.
In grade 9, he/she would go to a party thrown by a senior so you wouldn't wind up being the only underage person there.
In grade 10, he/she changed their schedule so you wouldn't be all alone in that elective class.

In grade 11, he/she
- gave you rides in their new car
- convinced your parents that you shouldn't be grounded
- consoled you when you broke up with Nick or Susan
- and found you a date to the formal.
In grade 12, he/she was the person who
- helped you pick out a college/university
- assured you that you would get in
- and helped you deal with your parents who were having a hard time with the idea of letting you go.
At graduation, your idea of a good friend was the person who was crying on the inside but managed the biggest smile one could give as they congratulated you.

The summer after highschool, your idea of a good friend was the person who
- helped you clean up the bottles from that party
- helped you sneak out when you just couldn't deal with your parents
- assured you that now that you and Nick or you and Susan were back together, you could make it through anything
- helped you pack up for university and just silently hugged you as you looked through blurry eyes at 18 years of memories you were leaving behind
- and went out of their way, on those last days of childhood, to reassure you that you would make it in college
- and, most importantly, sent you off to college knowing you were loved.

And now, your idea of a good friend is still the person who
- gives you the better of the two choices
- holds your hand when you're scared
- helps you fight off those who try to take advantage of you
- thinks of you at times when you are not there
- reminds you of what you have forgotten
- helps you put the past behind you but understands when you need to hold on to it a little longer
- stays with you so that you have confidence
- goes out of their way to make time for you
- helps you clear up your mistakes
- helps you deal with pressure from others
- smiles for you when they are sad
- helps you become a better person
- and, most importantly, loves you!

[That's it. This is where the chain letter part came in.]