I grew up in Jamaica Plain. My best friend Rose and I used to dream about raising a family of our own someday and living next door to one another. Our dream remained alive through school and beyond. Rose was my maid of honor when I married Dick. Later, Dick was stationed in Alaska and we moved. Rose was sad to see me leave, but wished me the best of luck. We remained in touch for a few years before we lost track. I thought of her several times over the years. All of my children now have families of their own, and Dick passed away a few years ago. Basically, a lifetime has passed. Then one day, near my 80th birthday, I received a phone call "Hi Natalie, it's Rose," the voice on the other end said, " I don't know if you remember me, but we used to be best friends in Jamaica Plain when we were kids." We have spent hours on the phone catching up. Even after 52 years of separation our personalities and interests are still extremely similar. We both share a passion for several hobbies that we each picked up independently several years after we lost touch with one another. It almost feels like we are picking up right where we left off. Her husband died a few years ago as well, but she mailed me several photographs of her family that were taken over the years. It's so crazy, just looking at the photos and listening to her description of her family reminds me of my own: a reasonably large, healthy family. Part of me feels like we led fairly similar lives. I don't think the similarities between our two lives are a coincidence either. I think shows that we didn't just call each other best friend; we truly were best friends and even now we can be best friends again. Real friends have two things in common: a compatible personality and a strong-willed character. The compatible personality is what starts the connection between two people. A strong-willed character at both ends is what maintains the connection. If those two ingredients are present in a friendship, the friendship is for real, It can pass the tests of time and long distance between one another and will never disappear The author thinks that    _    .
the similarities between their lives are coincident although they're not best friends, they have much in commom. they both have a compatible personality and a strong-willed character only those who have similar characters can be real friends