My parents were of the mindset : we are not your friends, we are your parents the whole time we were growing up. That’s not to say they didn’t have fun with us, we did every day, but they were a lot more concerned with raising us than they were with us liking them. It has been an absolute joy getting to know who they are as people as adults. Now they are among my best friends. I know so much of their preferences, likes, dislikes, dreams, regrets, their history and what makes them laugh.

My husband’s dad was his “best friend” the whole time, while his mom had to play both parents. His dad has passed, and his relationship with his mom is strained. He doesn’t really know anything about either of them. He never knows what to get his mom as a gift, or their medical histories. They are strangers to him.