Holding that title for someone else is as much about commitment and honor and respect as a romantic relationship is- it involves compromise, trust and a mutual growth that allows certain friends to last through decades and incredible life changes. Showing another human being that you care about them and that their happiness and presence in your life is important to you on a regular basis is, though it may sound obvious, a fairly big commitment in practice.
You are two distinct people with lives that are constantly molding you into different people. Being a best friend means willing to learn and adapt, to understand that you cannot control this person or make them be who you want them to be, that you love them precisely because they are their own person.
It's something that demands admitting you're wrong, making sacrifices, and coming to understand that the decisions you wouldn't make for yourself may be the right ones for them. To have a love like this -one that you cannot control or tie down or even fully define - is as precious as it is rare.
We have endless guidebooks on how to navigate romantic relationships, but so few that tell us what to do when our best friend moves to a new city for the first time and we have learn how to redesign our patterns and communication to bridge the gap.
There are endless questions and challenges to be faced in a best friendship, almost all of which we have to figure it out for ourselves. But when everything is going wrong and there is only one person you know you can call who will be there free of judgement, of imposing their worldview on you, you cannot say it isn't worth it.
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