Hello!
I'm 48 and interested in meeting new friends. I'd really like to find a male BFF (to be clear, I am NOT looking for romance). I have wonderful girlfriends, but I'm missing the balance an opposite-sex friendship can bring. I'm in a pretty rural part of the country, and I'm not looking to relocate, so it would be a long-distance friendship. I've lived all over, including internationally, so I don't mind if you're not local. Maybe that will even make it easier to find a male friend?
I'm a Christian (confessional, conservative Lutheran with a little personal crossover in small ways into Orthodoxy), and I love Christ and the Church, and have a particular interest in the persecuted Church around the world.
As far as types of friends, I'm not looking for my own doppelgänger. One of my dearest, dearest friends in all the world is not a Christian (tried it, didn't like it), and we have great respect for one another and some wonderful discussions about faith. I also have friends who hold political and other views that are quite different from mine. My point is that I believe true friendship is built on genuine, mutual respect, and people who disagree on important issues can still be good friends. I don't want all of my friends to be the same as I am. There is no opportunity for personal growth when you surround yourself only with those who think the same as you do. I do not feel threatened by other opinions or viewpoints. I do, however, expect those opinions to be expressed in a civil and respectful manner.
Anyway.... I'm an introvert and a bit of a nerd. Maybe more than a bit. Okay, I'd be a professional student if I could, and I own a copy of the unabridged Oxford English Dictionary. LOL I'm a bit of a renaissance woman, a writer, published author of both fiction (mostly medieval high fantasy) and nonfiction (article about recreating authentic medieval recipes), and have a lot of interests, especially in the sciences and history, as well as cooking, gardening, languages, music, etc. I raise Monarch butterflies in the summer and have even tagged them for migratory purposes (not a joke... that really is a thing). Finally (at least here), I have an undergraduate degree in English and a Master in Library Science/Archives, with a special focus and post-grad studies in rare books and manuscripts.
I love other cultures and have done mission work in Ukraine and Japan, studied and traveled in the UK and Italy, and would happily live in a cardboard box in Florence in the shadow of the Museo Galileo/the Museum of the History of Science. Yes, it's as wonderful as it sounds. :)
I was the primary caregiver for both of my parents, who have passed away, and would like my life to reflect the calling of Christians, which is to love and serve, as described in the epistle of James and other scriptures. I'm kind of blazing a new path as not-a-caregiver-anymore-but-not-sure-what-I-am-now.
It would be nice to have a male BFF to talk to about all these things, though I am certainly open to new female friends as well.
