My friend Helen has written a lovely blog entry about a mutual friend of ours – someone you might not expect:

He’s a peculiar chap. He keeps his own company. He likes to hibernate. He likes to make others cry, ponder and contemplate the worst. He likes to distort reality for fun and he likes to take over people’s brains, then lives. He hates being shut out and he hates it when he isn’t invited to the party. So he muscles in, unwanted. He rears his ugly head when he’s least welcome and he sure knows how to put a damper on everything.

Meet my friend: Depression. We’ve been friends for 13 years now so it’s a pretty long-term thing. We’ve had our ups and downs like every friendship does. We’ve been close and we’ve been distant. We get on best when he leaves me alone. But now and again I am thankful for him.

Go read the rest on her blog.