• Is it the amount of time you’ve known each other? (13 years)
• Is it how quickly you went from being co-workers to your families being, well, like family? (~1 year)
• Is it the number of marathons you’ve run together? (2, Chicago and NYC)
• Is it the number of Punkin’ Chunkin’s you’ve witnessed? (1)
• Is it the number of top IBM execs you’ve both supported? (2, Patrick and Adkins)
• Is it the amount of sushi one can be served in a hot tub on the side of a Killington ski slope? (18 pieces)
• Is it the number of bottles of red, Yards or Black Maple Hill you’ve shared over late-night debates about PR, politics and people? (let’s not go there)
• Is it the number of laughs, brainstorms, conversations and memories you’ve experienced together? (too many to count)

In the case of Tim Blair, his wife, sons and dogs, friendship is defined as all of that…and more. The news this past week that Tim — one of the smartest and nicest human beings I’ve ever known — is returning to his beloved Chicago is but one more entry in the definition of our friendship. Because while I and my family are sad to see them move even just a timezone away, we know the unbreakable bond of friendship we’ve built over the past 13 years is defined not by distance, but by the sum of all that encompasses what it means to be called a friend.