One time, early on in a friendship, I ended up lost with this friend, going around and around in circles of frustration as we tried to find the location of this party and time ticked on. Each of us had different ideas of how to get there and what to do, and both of us were strongly vocal about it.

I wasn’t sure what this tested moment of would mean for, and reveal for, our relationship. Afterward, finally arrived at the party (and with Avril Lavigne nearby, as life would have it?) I went to apologize for my part in the arrival messiness and for some less-than moments of comportment in our exchanges. She looked at me, fully in the eyes, and said, “It’s OK. I want you to know that, with us, it will always be OK.”

Years later, we are still very close. And I am grateful for that moment, and her vulnerability to put herself out that as a friend, that created a foundation of unconditional friendship love. Because in the end, it’s our friends who are (also) the loves of our lives, aren’t they?