I learned about loyalty the hard way. I've felt the sting of friends not being who I thought they were supposed to be. The biggest lesson came by witnessing disloyal people screw over my Dad while working with him. It didn't happen once or twice, but countless times.
As an adult, I understand that people are generally self-interested. I get that people make mistakes. But I will never be ok with people treating my Dad like crap. In particular, because my Dad is a sweet and generous man. One of his biggest flaws is that he is blind to people's self-interest. He typically sees only the good in people until its too late. Part of this is because his faith instructs him to do so. Part of it is because he doesn't want to see the evil that exists in this world, even though he knows its there. The man fought in the Vietnam War- he empirically knows horrible people exist who do horrible things to other people. He chooses to look beyond it, and through it- still.
The best example of loyalty I have ever seen comes from my Dad's most valued employee- I'll call him Wayne for the purposes of this post. Wayne came to work for my Dad almost 25 years ago after a childish mistake landed him in Jail. He knew he made a mistake and was interested in starting his life fresh. My Dad gave him a shot, and in exchange earned Wayne's loyalty for life. When other employees bailed on my Dad, Wayne never did. If he ever needed anything, Wayne was there.
This man is in my Dad's will, and although he never had to ask, Dad made me promise that I would always make sure that Wayne is taken care of if my Dad isn't there to do so himself. If someone screws over my Dad it's like they screwed me over. If someone is loyal to my Dad, they have my fidelity in return. For as long as I live.
