Kweku’s Korner
Ra Kweku Akyirefi Melchizedek Amoasi
By Dr. Kweku Akyirefi Amoasi
The Nyumba Upendo show on April 9, 2025, was hosted by Dr. Alisia Moutry and Simmone Kilgore. They discussed the importance of friendship on our mental health. It was a great episode that can be seen in the archives on WNOV YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv5ZmW2xj3Q
When I began to think about the mental health value of a lifelong friendship, it had me thinking as they broke down the words of the iconic collaboration led by Dionne Warrick entitled “That’s What Friends Are For.” One of the iconic lines from that song reads… That’s what friends are for, for good times and bad times, I’ll be on your side forever more!
The melody sounds good, but this is why friends are good, because they are on your side forever, ever, ever, ever! They are there through the good and bad times. This is not the seasonal friend, but the lifelong friend that has seen you matriculate through school and life.
Most of the time, our first friends come from our bloodline. These are our siblings, cousins, young aunts, and uncles into which we were born. These are the truest of friends, but the friends that become family without blood ties hold a different value.
Why are friends so important? Because they are there to laugh with you, hold you accountable, have your back, uplift you in difficult times, and help talk you through your darkest times. Sometimes, your friends can literally save your life with a conversation, a financial donation, or a kidney.
Have these few lines made you think of a friend? When I heard this episode, I thought of my friend Temiko Scott. We met in K-5 at Green Bay Avenue School. We played at recess together. We had our first fistfight in the second grade. The first test of our friendship came when we went to different middle schools. Though there was no Facetime or Google, this brother taught me the lyrics to Lottie Dottie by Slick Rick and Dougie Fresh over the phone until I knew it by heart… still do! Then we were reunited in High School and though we only had one class together those four years, we still kicked it so hard it did not matter. Now when there was a fight going on, we were fighting on the same team.
Fast forward to us being adults, he was at my wedding, and I was at his wedding. We helped each other move from house to house. We watched boxing matches together. Our children became friends. If we were out of town, we could trust each other to check on each other’s houses. We prayed and went to church together. He even on my barbeque skills.
My most powerful moment with Temiko, was when my dad died. That same day, November 23, 2003, Miko took me to the basketball court, and we played for hours. We didn’t say a word about my father. And he didn’t take it lightly on me! I didn’t cry through my eyes, but I cried through the sweat. I knew it was his way of saying he was “Damn, that’s messed up, I don’t know what to say, but I’m here for you partner.” Sometimes, that’s how dudes say “I love you without seeming soft.
When he moved out of the state, it was a big loss in my life and that’s when I really understood the meaning of friends. We still remain friends to this day and though the conversations are fewer than when he lived here, when we catch up, we don’t miss a beat!
Call your friends, reminisce about the good times, and let them know you love them. Who is your circle of friends? Reach out to them because having a friend is the best mental health treatment! It’s funny one minute you save their life and the next minute they save yours.