I have had many friends in my life but very few "Real Friends" and there are as many examples of  what constitutes a  "Real Friend". this is the story of one of those friends in my life and how they all sort of left this guy..........
About 12 years ago my friend had cancer and he didnt tell anyone, after all he lived alone and no one ever came by to see him. I went by many times over the years and I wish it was because he was my "Real Friend" but in all honesty things were going bad at home and he was a cheap easy way to kill time and hell he was a funny guy and everybody loves funny but truth be told i never liked the guy very much. I was at his house one day and saw a hospital bill on his table and asked him about it he replied "They found a lump in my balls" it was so dry and no feeling when he talked of this medical problem. I didnt say anything to anyone but sort of made it my regular schedule to stop by a little more often and it got worse so I asked him for permission to tell his family and friends and so I went about doing the phone tree thing and before you know it he had people at his house all the time.
I made my usual stops to see him its not as if I had a choice after all I became a big part of the "what will we do without him" bull shit. Time went on and a couple minor surgery's and he got better. It sort of happened slowly but the crowds withdrew and he was alone once more with me, after all this was my get away from the house visits. I would stop by and we would drink and talk and before you know it he slowly got up and became part of the mainstream society and the idiot even went back to his ex and things went well for him for a while and then one day out of the blue he calls me and asks me to stop by because he was away from the Bitch again, and man did we tie one on (thats drinking for you young pups lol) and once again we moved into our usual routine of visits and drinking and I noticed he had aged a lot and wasnt taking care of himself, so I asked him "are you sick again bro?" He only smiled and said nothing more about it and damn it i know I should have cared more but I just dont like this guy he is too high maintenance to be my "Real Friend". I looked in his medicine cabinet (shut up we all do it) and I found a shit load of anti depressants and the usual suspects so I contacted his family and friends once again and waited and waited and none showed up. i asked him and he only smiled and said "Hell man its not cancer" .................
It's typical isnt it? The total non action about so called family and friends who have no compassion for a man who in his own words is a lot worse off now that when he had cancer but depression is still a uncomfortable illness with a very long drawn out death rate and those people are crazy and we need to have a glamorous disease to get involved. I asked him if he missed all the attention or people showing compassion when he had cancer and he told me "not for a while now" now its about the waiting.  I hate to be an ass but like I said, not my "Real Friend" and I dont really like him. 
Its the holiday season check on the crazy people in your family there is a lot of pain going on in all that space between the ears........
Thanks for reading Bohank      and a gold star if you made it all the way through this story