But you're my best friend!

Those are quite possibly the most painful words in the English language.

What? You want to know why I'm so maudlin? Well, chicas I was talking to an old friend today and he was telling me all about the "girls" he's currently involved with -- the random makeouts, the one who's making him jump every time the phone rings -- and it took me back.

Back to that one moment, when I'm staring at the most beautiful boy in the world. The boy who's just told me he simply has to talk to me, making my heart do stupid little flippy things. And then he tells me that because he loves me, he wants my opinion. My heart stops flipping, stops beating as it waits. And then he says, "So, is it too soon to ask (insert name of evil one here) to marry me? Do you think I'm rushing it? I really want an honest opinion, here and you're my best friend."

Let me tell you, boys, this isn't the compliment you think it is. In fact it's one step up from saying, "well, you're not thin, but you're still cute". It's one of those statements that make us think of running pencils through your brain stems just to see if it actually kills you or if you've stopped using the organ long ago. It's the epitome of you're like my sister or I don't love you that way -- but said so much more innocuously that it's almost impossible to hate the speaker. So instead you hate yourself just a bit more.

Could you be someone's home?

I could be someone's home if I fell down -Lisa Loeb, When all the stars were falling...

The line itself is simple, almost child-like with the reverence Loeb gives to it, but come on, could you be someone's home? Think on it. The idea of being someone's safe place -- the place where they can be themselves, drop the pretension and not fear scorn. Scary stuff when you scratch the surface.

Think on it: when you fall from grace, step down from your pedestal, all you have left is yourself: the essence of you. Is that really enough? Is the person beneath the clever facade really as interesting as you think she is? Can she sustain a relationship with someone, be strong enough to be their safe place, yet vulnerable enough to need a safe place? And if not, then how do we prepare her for such a task?

And more importantly, how do we gather the courage to fall?