For me there is no more meaningful place than among friends.  We are born to family, but we choose and are chosen in friendship.  Family is there in good times and bad without much attention but friendship demands attention.

We all know what happens to friendship from other times and places.  Many times they occupy places in memory but do not thrive in the present.  The distance in space and time is too great for adequate maintenance.  We are more because of them but vitality is reserved for those relationships into which we can invest present tense love and care.