Besties

“She’s my best friend,” I overhead someone enthusiastically gushing at the grocery store the other day.

At first, the thought of someone being excited about a best friend made me smile. But then it made me kind of sad too. Why? Because I personally don’t subscribe to the notion of exclusivity in regards a Best Friend.

In plain English; I don’t limit my bestie to just ONE.

I guess I am the odd duck who believes that our precious lives should be shared with multiple besties who bring a wide variety of wisdom, humor, skills and comfort to the table.

Just for craps and giggles, I looked up the term “Best Friend" and here is what it said; “The definition of a best friend is a person who you value above other friends in your life, someone you have fun with, someone you trust and someone in whom you confide. An especially close and trusted friend.

Sounds pretty darn singular doesn’t it?

“But how I define the term “best friend” is way deeper, more vast and populated by several amazing people riding shotgun with me on this crazy journey called Life”.

Here’s my definition of best friend(s).

Your Best Friends are the people who can make you laugh until you leak, even on your bad days.

They are the tight-knit band of misfits who help you see that a perceived Mount Everest-sized problem is totally fixable and just a pimple on the Big Butt of Life.

Your MOM Besties are also the ones who “get it” when you confide to them that that your kids are driving you to the brink of CuckooLand. They are also the ones who will watch your kids for you so you can have a much needed break and don’t become a permanent resident of CuckooLand.

They are the humans who are your biggest fans and your biggest constructive critics. They will be the ones who point out that the yellow blouse that you thought was killer, in reality makes you look like a school bus, minus the stop arm. Best Friends are the ones that are brave enough to bring up these touchy topics with you, even at the risk of ticking you off, because they truly care about your well-being.
Your Best Friends are the peeps that you have shared good AND bad memories with, but you still cherish both.

Our Bestie Tribe are the special somebodies’ who are able to drive us the most nuts, but also the ones who we drop everything for in a time of need.

The pool of Besties is like an all-powerful Mommy Congress who work together to right wrongs, solve conundrums, listens to biotchin’ and work tireless towards world domination (or the secret to a clean house and pantyhose that don’t creep).

Our Besties are the people who will pick us up when we are blue….then work feverishly to dislodge whatever is in our throat making us blue.

Our Best Friends are the same people who will grow old alongside us; helping each other muddle through things like college tuition, life events, empty-nester syndrome and even loss. They are the same people, when the Silver Age of life sets in, who will share the entries in their Little Black Books with each other which ironically will all contain names with “M.D.” after them. They are the same people who will giggle together when another Bestie mentions that she “got lucky” yesterday and know it really means that she remembered where she parked the car at the mall.

The Bestie Group, no matter which stage of life they are in, is a gathering of like-minded souls who don’t have to explain or justify their battle scars (stretch marks or C-section incisions), phobias, emotional baggage, hairy upper lips, sagging boobs, razor stubble or spilt ends. Real Best Friends are actually a little like boobs; they are young or old, are big or small…but they most certainly never fake.

Our real True Blue Besties are NOT the snooty, “too cool for the room” people from our High School years who suddenly reappear in our adult lives wanting us to Follow/Like/Connect/Pin/Chat us up/Have Coffee so they can share their excitement about their wraps/stick-on nails/diet shake/ tonics/oils/jewelry/over-priced gadgets with us. NO sireee, those are not best friends. They are barely “acquaintances.”

The tight bonds of Bestie Sisterhood does not go unnoticed by the younger generation either. I know for a fact that my loyalty and fierce protectiveness of my Besties serves as a positive role model for my daughter as she matures and starts to form her own friendships.

That being said, why would we ever want to limit ourselves to one Best Friend in life?

A true best friend may be hard to come by, but can you imagine the inspiration, empowerment and awesomeness of a small army of Besties who are always to be our teachers and cheerleaders all rolled into one lumpy and beautiful bundle? The thought of having a tiny Bestie Community of favorited, well-loved peeps who have each other’s backs through thick and thin indeed makes me smile.

Again, why limit your life to just one?


Rebecca is a freelance writer and blogger living in Northern Minnesota. She is the dedicated mom to two beautiful kids, a veteran blogger at FranticMommy and someone who loves to laugh about the trials and tribulations of parenthood. If another mom reads her corny stories and thinks, “Thank gawd it’s not just me!”….mission accomplished. You can also follow Rebecca on Pinterest