Of all the gifts we might desire in life, surely friendship stands near the top of the list. Those of us who have a close friend or two feel blessed. We share our dreams and secrets with these companions of the heart: our joy and our sadness, our victories and our defeats. And when we goof up in some big-time way, we know that our friend will stand beside us instead of wagging a finger in our face. Yet making good friends can be a tough proposition, especially when we enter adulthood. The single man whose company transfers him from Boston to Tucson, Arizona, where he knows no one, may keep in touch with his Massachusetts buddies electronically, but it’s not the same as sharing a beer with them after work at the Harvard Gardens on Beacon Hill. In Harvard Magazine’s “The Loneliness Pandemic,” Jacob Sweet offers a detailed analysis …