Thanksgiving, and every day of the year really, there are a million and a half things I have to be thankful for: big things, like freedom and an education and family, and little things, like sneakers and headphones and lollipops.

As you probably guessed from the title of this article, I wanted to focus on one particular aspect of my life of which I'm especially grateful: mis amigos.

The other night, my best friends were helping me come up with ideas that I could write about for my article this week. After listing a few creative topics, one of them yelled out, "Write about us." I kinda laughed it off, but then upon reflection, realized just how much I could write about them: how much fun we have together, how much I love them, how much they love me.

Which led me to another thought: how cool is it that our best friends love us unconditionally? I mean, our parents do, and siblings, and in the future, we'll love our kids and spouses with that same unconditional love. I don't in any way mean to say that that love isn't real and genuine, but we do have a biological predisposition to love our partners and children. Way back when, in the days of cavemen and such, we didn't have as wide a spectrum of emotions, but we still cared for our partners and offspring. There's that little instinct we've got that says "Hey, that person is gonna carry our DNA to the next gene pool, we should probably look out for them. Make sure they survive and such, ya know, to make sure our gene pool continues on." Obviously, we've developed a bit since those days, but that biological instinct is still buried in there, which would explain why our parents are so protective of us and each other, and why nothing compares to a mother's love and all that.

The thing is, we don't really gain anything (from a biological perspective) from having friendships. I mean, companionship, yes, and they certainly help pass the time, but besides joy, amusement, and self-esteem, they don't really do much for us. Which, granted, is a lot, but aren't aspects of life that would necessarily help those cavemen relatives of ours survive.

Basically, I think it's something akin to a miracle that we have the relationships with our friends that we do. I know there's absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for my friends, and the truth behind those words frankly amazes me. The fact that people that were once strangers somehow become some of the most important facets of our lives and who we are is insane, and really, really cool.

So shoutout to my friends, and all you friends out there: Keep on rocking on, and keep in mind just how special and unique every single friendship is. This Thanksgiving, and every day of the year, remember to thank your best friends for loving you, and appreciate the second home they've become for you.