Your experience is the "standard" story about friendships portrayed in the media, and it's great when it works out that way, I'm glad it did for you. It's hard

Your experience is the "standard" story about friendships portrayed in the media, and it's great when it works out that way, I'm glad it did for you. It's hard to know how standard that actually is though, how much of the population gets to experience it that way. A lot of people grow up in situations where they feel ostracized or just don't find anyone they connect to in their peer groups, and so don't get to forge friendships at that stage. And then there's many that go through a traumatic experience or big upheaval in their life in a way that makes it practically impossible to maintain the connections they did forge. It's true that sometimes it's those traumatic experiences or difficulties that deepen the friendship, but there's also many cases where those are so big and impactful that they alter one's identity and relationships (including friendships) forever. It's quite mature of you to be open to the fact that the experience is different for others, that's not often the case when one gets the "default" good experience of something. Many others who get that experience tend to dismiss conscious attempts to make or maintain friendships (like in the post) as not genuine, but friendship is also a skill that some people pick up unconsciously, and others need conscious attempts to learn and practice.