“He’s always been a very noble and righteous person. Very much a ‘lead by example’ person. He always does the right thing. He’s a good role model and he’s kind to other people,” Connor Thorpen, a sophomore at UW, said regarding his friend Buck Harris.
Depending on who you ask, there were anywhere between six and eight words for love in ancient Greek. In modern English, the different forms of love one feels for a friend, for family, for God, or for food are arguably different, yet there’s only one word to describe it– love.
“It’s a genuine love, but it’s not romantic– It’s very much just friendship,” Connor said.
“He’s helped me through everything. I trust him more than anyone else. I’m probably closer to him than I am with most of my family.”
Given that humans are innately social creatures, even for introverts, developing friendships isn’t anything out of the ordinary. The bonds we create are, however. The friendships we make are a unique and fundamental part of our human story.
“We both have brothers and I think we’ve told each other that we feel more like brothers than we do with our actual brothers because they’re both older than us; they’ve already moved out. We spend more time with each other than we do with our actual brothers,” Connor said.
For many, Connor included, the love and friendships they develop in life give it an otherwise unattainable value.
“It’s very good to have someone like that to support your own mental health, and so that you can help theirs as well, because without someone like that, it’s easy to feel alone,” Connor said.
“There was a time in my life where things were not going well. And he was the first person I reached out to, to help me with that.”
A positive friend can often have an invaluable impact on us. That unique sense of love and support can often encourage, or force, us to take beneficial action.
“That’s when he told me that he had experienced a lot of the same things, so he knew how to get help, and he kind of forced me to get it,” Connor said.
“I probably wouldn’t have done it on my own. I needed him to make me do it. If I wouldn’t do it for myself, I would have to do it for him, because I care about him that much.”
