The most significant element of a long lasting friendship is trust. Through trust, best friends tend to share their feelings, opinions and secrets with one another. When I lived in Canada, my best friend Maureen and I talked about career goals, boy-girl relationships and some personal problems. She even told me about the problems she faced with her parents. I was touched by her trust and tried my best to comfort her and help her solve some problems. Trust brings us closer. Though we are a thousand miles apart now, it doesn't matter, because what you share with your true friend is much deeper than what lies on top. A long lasting friend is someone who treasures and appreciates the special occasions and memories of life with another person, and she is also someone who, "to herself is true", and therefore must be so to you. I have full confidence that Maureen would never lie to me and would never hurt me, and if she did, it would be for my own benefit. Therefore someone true to their own self can become a true friend.
             Although trust is the central factor in a long lasting friendship, equality is essential too. Though Maureen and I have known one another for the past fifteen years, yet our arguments never dealt with nationality, status, education or age. We respect one another's' cultures and beliefs. Coming from two different continents with different family backgrounds, have never affected our friendship.
             A long lasting friendship gives us a reason to exist, and helps us feel wanted by others through their unconditional love and understanding towards us. The fact that true friends trust us and treat us with complete fairness is one of the most significant relationships and experiences that can ever happen to us.
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