There comes a point in any good friendship that you become so comfortable with the other person that the term "best friends" just doesn't seem to cover it anymore. There are no boundaries, there's nothing you can't tell them, and it's rare that you're not together. My best friends and I call this "friend-married."
Friend-marriage is more than just a regular friendship; it's a promise.
This is friend-marriage in its finest form, as told by my favorite friend-marriage in popular culture, Meredith Grey and Cristina Yang.
1. I promise to support and encourage even your craziest ideas.
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Why yes, I absolutely think you should wear my pink Snuggie across campus to class. Oh yes, you should definitely climb that building.
2. I promise to be your own personal motivational speaker.
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Because sometimes we just need a clever, motivational dramatic monologue to get us through the day.
3. I promise to always remind you of the things you forget, even when you don't want to remember them.
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Okay...so maybe this one isn't an actual Grey's Anatomy quote, but it fit so well I couldn't pass it up.
4. I promise to always be honest. I do not, however, promise to always be nice.
I think we're past the point of being nice to each other all the time anyways. Our friendship is now more accurately expressed through sarcasm so advanced that people sometimes think we actually hate each other.
5. I promise to always have your best interests in mind, even when you don't want to hear it.
This goes for the nights when you say, "Just one more," and I say, "NOPE."
6. I promise that what's mine is yours, and what's my significant other's is also yours by default.
Scoot over, McDreamy, this is an emergency. Personal space does not exist when there's a crisis at hand.
7. I promise to always hate men (or women) with you.
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This may seem like a stupid, basic friend vow, but I promise that no matter how great things are going in my life, I will always pretend I hate everyone with a Y chromosome until you're okay again.
8. I promise to love you...even when I hate you.
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Yes, that is a direct quote from Meredith and Derek's marriage post-it, but it's true with you too. I can't promise that I won't want to tear your hair out sometimes, but I can promise you that ultimately I'll forgive you in the end.
9. I promise to still accept you even when you get all dark and twisty.
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Go ahead, tell me how you hate absolutely everybody. Tell me how you want to peel the flesh off of someone who made you mad. I know better than to believe you--and also won't be scared by your over-dramatic, highly specific phrasing.
10. I promise that even when we are apart, we are together in spirit.
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Remember that time I tried to do something without you and then immediately realized how weird I felt and how it was a mistake? Yeah. Me too.
11. I promise to always be your biggest cheerleader, especially when you are your own worst enemy.
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After all, I see all of the good and none of the bad. When you're feeling insecure or down about yourself, I promise to build you back up to the confident, fabulous human that you are.
12. And most of all, I promise to be your person, and I promise that you are mine.
People come into our lives, and people leave, but we are an institution. We are each other's person. That is what friend-marriage is, after all.
