Friends in the worst of times?

It isn't that hard to find a friend to hold you up when you're at the lowest of times. If you're in the darkest of moments, those around you would be concerned; they wouldn't want you to land yourself in anything stupid, and they'd be concerned, they'd give you a hug, listen to you cry.

But that's just the deepest point in a valley. It's dramatic and people don't want you to die, so they'd feel obligated to be there for you. Those who show up during the hardest of times are definitely true pals, but don't forget the ones who notice and are there with you in the points leading up to the lowest, darkest moment, as well as those who bother to follow through that, who are there with you in the weeks you spend climbing out.

There are those who sense that something isn't right before you hit the bottom, who bother listening to your whines the whole long way down. Weiliang, for example, listened to my emo rants for a whole year before the real hurt arrived, at all the points leading up to the pit.

And there are those those who keep on checking if you're okay after that period of deepest darkness, making sure you don't fall back in. Alex was also prominently there for me at my lowest point, and he also saw me through every day of my upward crawl, sending me lovely quotes and great encouragements every single day for weeks leading up to the A's, making sure I was doing fine.

Those who are there for us before and after the worst of times are those we often forget to be grateful for. They're the ones who know we're not doing all that badly yet, but still make the effort to help us feel better. They're truly selfless, too.