A Quick Remark

Falling In Love With One’s Best Friend

“Holy crap, I’m totally in love with you, and now I’m really freaking out.” Those were the only words my mind could process when I realized I had fallen for my best friend. You see, I had this widely known rule that I would never date friends. I even went as far as to avoid dating friends of friends. There were too many horror stories of friendships falling apart because of a relationship. Not to mention the problem of actually telling your best friend that you have feelings for them. What if they didn’t feel the same? Would that single development in a friendship change it forever? No, I just wasn’t going to deal with it. “Never,” I said to myself, “NEVER!”

We had one class together every year until she graduated and went off to college. She was a year older than me. I remember walking into class my freshman year and seeing this cute girl I was determined to talk to. After three years, I just enjoyed just conversing with her. She was smart, really smart, and she was kind of funny too. At her graduation, we were friends; the kind of friends you always had fun with in class, but didn’t think you’d really hang out with in the future.

Anyhow, the next year I graduated and went to college in the Midwest. After those years, I camped out in Chicago for another four. I had my fun, but all of my nieces and nephews in Houston, drew me back home. That’s when it all started. Through random avenues, our paths crossed again.

There were sushi dinners she planned every Wednesday with her friends. I suspect it was an excuse to go eat sushi on a weekly basis, but it didn’t stop me from joining when she started inviting me. There were even a couple of weeks when we would run together afterwards, just the two of us. It was really just a way for both of us to workout.

This went on for over a year and half. During one sushi dinner, she told me that Harvard had accepted her into their Master’s in Education program, and she wasn’t sure what she was going to do. Naturally, I said she had to go. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. How awesome would that be?

While she was gone, we chatted online constantly. I dreaded the need for sleep because that mean I had to sign off. It all made me realize one thing, I missed her. The crazy thing was that I still got to see her every two weeks. She flew back to Houston so that her kids could go with her ex-husband. We hung out every single weekend she was back. I made sure of it. It seemed like she did too because she planned her weekends back in Houston to match the weekends I would be there.

In January of her Master’s year, I planned a ski trip, and she came along. That’s when I realized I was completely in love with her. It was her last day on the trip. We shared a bed only because we knew each other the best. But on that last morning, I woke up and realized that I was head over heels in love with her, and I had no idea what the heck to do about it. I loved her so much as a friend, and I wanted to make sure she would always be in my life.

That spring semester, I followed through with my promise and visited her during her spring break. That’s when I knew I could be part of her life, part of the kid’s lives. We spent every hour of that week together. The rest of that semester, I spent my One-Pass miles from the consulting days to visit her. During one of those trips, I kissed her, and we’ve been together ever since.

Today we’re married and we have another child on the way. It worked out wonderfully. It’s a scary thing to transition from best friends to mates, but if it works out, it’s amazing. There’s no way I could live without her in my life. We’re just lucky we’re in love with each other. We’re in love with our best friend.