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Readers: What do you love about your best friend?

Tell us what you love most about your best friend, and what makes them your ride-or-die. Share your love for them with us.

Best friends and successful authors John Kenney, left, and Bill Landay, right, grew up together in West Roxbury, MA.

January 24, 2024

1 minute to read

It’s a special thing to call someone your best friend. And in a time of growing nationwide social disconnect, it can be a rare and precious thing, too.

In May 2023, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared that the United States was undergoing a loneliness epidemic. About one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness in recent years, Murthy said.

This is where friendship — and best friendship, specifically — comes into play.

Good friends are good for your health, according to the Mayo Clinic, with numerous studies backing up the benefits friendship has on the body and the brain.

Without them, there’s a higher risk for having serious physical risks, in addition to mental health struggles: Loneliness poses the same health risks as smoking up to 15 cigarettes per day.

Blame it on the cold weather or a reputation for standoffishness, but interestingly, New Englanders reported the highest level of loneliness (20%) across nine U.S. regions, according to Gallup.

Thankfully, the love and laughter of a good friend is the perfect antidote. A systematic review of 38 studies published between 2000 and 2019 found that adult friendships, especially high-quality ones, can protect against mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.

And it turns out that despite the American tendency to prioritize romantic relationships over platonic ones, we actually value friendship quite highly.

Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults say having close friends is extremely or very important to living a fulfilling life, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey. This is far higher than those who say the same about being married (23%), having children (26%) or having a lot of money (24%).

In the spirit of Love Letters’ new podcast season, which features stories about people who got crucial help or assistance in their romantic lives — from friends, exes, therapists, family, and more — we want to hear about your best friend.

What makes your best friend your best friend? What’s your favorite thing about them? What do you love about having them as your best friend? How did you meet, and how long have you been friends? What do you believe to be the key to lasting best friendship? Share your love for them with us.

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