Are best friends family to you?

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Way better than my sibling. My kids call my best friend “aunt”. My sibling doesn’t even see us on holidays or know my kids names.

This. I'm an only child but my husband's sister and her husband don't do anything for our kids. While they're technically the only "real" aunt and uncle they have, we have friends who they call aunt and uncle who love our kids way more. Our kids are not even willed to our in-laws - they would go to our friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to think yes until my best friend of 40
years ghosted me.

Damn! I'm sorry djd you ever find out why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes and no. I prefer them to family. But I also know they may not be there for me if something changes in their lives and that their own families will always come first.

How do you know they would put you second to family? Maybe they feel the same way as you that you are included in the family count.

[Anonymous]

Yes. My best friend has been my best friend since we were 5.

[Anonymous]

Yes. my best friend knows more about my life and me than my siblings to. I was not emotionally close with my siblings to the level of confiding in them anything personal, so I confided in my friends instead. Some of it now is proximity where they are not part of my day to day life the way my friends are

[Anonymous]

Definitely!

[Anonymous]

I found that while I may consider friends to be "family" they may be close to family and see me as a "friend." As kids get older and life got more stressful, friend bonds often seemed to wane.

When the chips are down, say a job loss and need to move into someone's home for a period of time, a need for a leave to be a caregiver, etc, "friend" does not seem to be where someone stepping up comes from.

IRL it is a nice idea that often does not pan out over time.

[Anonymous]

Yes! I feel really lucky that I have several friends I consider family. I know their parents, their siblings, their extended family (like cousins and aunts/uncles).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I used to think yes until my best friend of 40
years ghosted me.

Damn! I'm sorry djd you ever find out why?

Nope. She is very selfish and presumably I was not serving her at that time (while I was getting divorced and asked to postpone a get together bc I had a court date).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I found that while I may consider friends to be "family" they may be close to family and see me as a "friend." As kids get older and life got more stressful, friend bonds often seemed to wane.

When the chips are down, say a job loss and need to move into someone's home for a period of time, a need for a leave to be a caregiver, etc, "friend" does not seem to be where someone stepping up comes from.

IRL it is a nice idea that often does not pan out over time.

This. Chips down=eyes open.

[Anonymous]

Yes. While we have had times of being distant, and we have failed to be what the other needed at times, we are friends for life (37 years and counting).