September 23 is the thirtieth birthday of one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. Darcie and I grew up in the same tiny town in northern Minnesota and suffered through the fun that is Being A Smart Weird Kid in a Conservative Place. But we emerged (mostly) unscathed and went out into the great wide world to seek our fortunes. Twenty years, multiples boyfriends and many countries later, we are still BFFs who can happily spend an afternoon eating Cheese Nips and drinking bellinis, talking about cats and the internet and how we wish our third BFF would hurry up and move back from Oz. Other reasons that my BFF is awesome?

1. She will come visit you in a foreign country for your birthday
The fact that I lived in Taiwan did not dissuade Darcie from flying halfway around the world to wish me a very merry 26th. Sure, her luggage got lost, she inadvertently witnessed some creepy night market tomfoolery and we took The Longest Taxi Ride Ever, but I'm prreeeeety sure she had a good time.

2. She takes her duty as BFF seriously
Darcie will tell you the things you need to hear but maybe don't want to. The "Wellll, maybe you should go with the other outfit" or "If he's not returning your calls you need to stop calling him" or "You're better than that and you know it." And most of these pronouncements are prefaced with the phrase "I would be remiss in my duties as your best friend if I didn't tell you ...." Isn't that great?!

3. She will pick you up at the airport/help paint your apartment/call you when you get your M.A.
If she says she's going to do it, she is really, 100% going to do it. She's there not just for the Miracle Berry parties and the photo scavenger hunts, but also moving apartments and when you de-friend the ex-boyfriend and need to weep about it and when you come back from New Zealand at 5 am.

4. She speaks my language
That is, the language of thrifting. And LOLcats. And general jack pine savagery. We share all sorts of ridiculous BFF vocabulary (Example: To Dennis (verb) to flake out on an engagement you committed to or Shus (noun) extraneous stuff on top of other stuff; excessive decor) She also speaks the language of a life-long friend, who knows what you're talking about when you mention Miss Meckley's eighth grade social studies class and that weird roll-playing game about the Chinese empire.

Why is your best friend awesome?

Posted by Sarah Von